Chapter Eleven
Overall, it was a successful mission. They had succeeded in opening a wormhole from Pegasus to the Supergate in the Milky Way, stopping any Ori attempts at sending any more ships. That is, until they built another one, but it would hold them off for now and hopefully give them enough time to come up with something.
Since the trip to Atlantis also came with the task of dropping off supplies for the expedition, they would be here until tomorrow morning. The ship was also slightly damaged from their run-in with the Wraith ship, so it was getting repairs done to it, adding more time to their stay. While it was nothing major, Colonel Emerson didn't want to risk an intergalactic trip as it stood, thus giving SG-1 a chance to explore the city…well most of SG-1.
Sam was headed back to the ship, lending a hand with the repairs and Vala had volunteered as well, wanting to be useful and prove herself. Vala was adamant that she wouldn't mooch off of the Tau'ri and wanted to try and earn her keep. Sam had agreed based on the fact that Vala had hijacked Prometheus a few years back, and though the systems weren't as sophisticated as the Odyssey's, she still had a knack for technology, even more so when she knew how it worked.
"Should we really be showing her the ship's systems and explaining how they work?" Daniel said warily, but held back a small smile, letting Vala know he was kidding.
"Fastest way to fix the ship," Sam reasoned.
"Yeah…I'm okay with it taking a little longer," he quipped.
"I bet you are," Vala retorted, "You might wanna start exploring the city before it's too late."
Daniel ignored her jab. "What about Alora?" he questioned, "Kind of hard to fix a ship with a baby strapped to ya."
She shrugged. "I've done repairs with harder obstacles. She shouldn't be a problem."
Sam rolled her eyes at the two, not that they saw her. "I'm gonna go grab some supplies I need," she interjected, "Vala, I'll be back for you in a bit."
They both watched as she walked away.
Daniel turned back to Vala. "I'll take her," he volunteered, gesturing to the baby in her arms.
She gave him a skeptical look. "Daniel, you want to explore the city – kind of hard to do that with a baby strapped to ya," she mimicked him with a smile.
He snorted softly and smiled. "Touché," he relented, "but it's easier to explore than it is to fix a ship, not to mention a lot less dangerous. Let me have her, I don't mind, I swear."
Vala knew he didn't mind and that was part of the problem. If she was ever going to leave Earth without either her and her daughter being too attached to him, she had to stop relying on him and his help. She always knew he would offer, and she would accept it without fail, but she had to stop that and be more independent, especially from him.
She sighed. Today was not one of those days. He had a point, and she didn't want to risk one of the systems overloading or something while Alora was in the vicinity. Plus, she'd be able to move around more easily. "Do you want the sling?" she asked, her way of giving in, "Might be easier to explore, not to mention a relief on the arms."
He smiled triumphantly and shrugged. "Sure," he replied. He'd look ridiculous wearing it but it would be easier to see the city with her in it, "though I have no idea how you put it on."
Vala grinned and handed him Alora before she began taking it off. "I can do it for you," she offered as she released herself from the sling, "Just stand there and do what I tell you."
"Yes ma'am," he said in mock seriousness.
She rolled her eyes but quickly got the sling positioned around him. "Okay, now just place her in and you should be good to go," she told him, "As you know, she just ate – "
"Yeah, you've got to stop doing that," he interjected.
" – so she should be okay for two to three hours," she continued as if he hadn't interrupted.
"Seriously, we need to establish some boundaries," he insisted as he settled Alora into the sling.
"Grow up," she told him again, "It was only twice."
"In one day," he specified, "and for your information, it was the third time."
Vala frowned. "What was the other time?"
"Your quarters after Alora told us to come here."
"My quarters," she emphasized, "You're the one who fell asleep on my bed and stayed after she woke up. You could've left when you handed her off or even when I started to feed her, but you didn't, so that's on you," she argued.
Daniel paused for a moment. "Fair," he conceded, "but seriously."
"No one is forcing you to watch," she said with a smirk, "but you're more than welcome to."
"Annnd, that's my cue to leave," he said and walked backwards, "Say bye to mommy, Alora," he cooed to the baby.
"Bye, my darlings," she told both of them, "Be good!"
"I think I should be the one telling you that!" he called after her, smiling when she flipped him off – he really needed to monitor what kind of TV shows she watched from now on.
o0o
Atlantis was beyond anything he had ever imagined, filled with technology and so much history that it would take him a lifetime or two to fully explore and study – it far exceeded his wildest expectations, and he hadn't even explored a quarter of it! He was pretty sure he had bored Alora to sleep with his explanations of everything he saw and read. It might have been different had he gravitated to sections that had more technology, but he was Daniel Jackson, and he thrived on things of the past, languages, and understanding who these people were – it was fascinating to him, but he couldn't exactly expect an infant to be as intrigued as he was, Orici or not.
"Oh, this section looks more techy if you wanna wake up and hear me prattle on about it," Daniel murmured to the sleeping baby and smiled when she shifted in the sling, "Yeah, didn't think so, but I gonna anyways since talking to myself makes me look crazy – you're my scapegoat."
"Now, that's just wrong to use a baby in that way," a voice said from behind him and Daniel turned towards it. John Sheppard nodded to him, "Dr. Jackson."
Daniel nodded back. "Colonel Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon," he greeted each member of the team before he quickly added, "Don't tell her mother."
"Couldn't even if I wanted to," Sheppard replied, "Would have to know who she was. Wasn't aware you had a kid."
Daniel smiled smally. "I don't," he admitted, and the Atlantis team missed the wistfulness in Daniel's admission, "She's Vala's."
"Didn't know she had a kid," Sheppard rephrased, "She wasn't in the briefing with us earlier."
"She was taking a nap aboard the Odyssey," Daniel explained, "You know, the whole never wake a sleeping baby thing – yeah, Vala takes that very seriously."
"So why do you have her?" Ronon asked and Daniel didn't like his tone.
Teyla shot him a look. "Ronon," she chastised him gently before stepping forward to get a better look at the infant.
"What?" the Satedan questioned defensively, "He just admitted that the baby wasn't his, yet she's with him and not her mother."
Though he didn't like what the man was insinuating, Daniel could appreciate where he was coming from. "Vala's aboard the Odyssey helping with the repairs," he explained, "Thought it would be easier for her to work if I took Alora, so I volunteered," he finished with a shrug.
His abrupt movement jostled Alora awake and she let out a sound of discontent. Daniel shifted her so she was more in his arms rather than the sling.
"She is quite small," Teyla noted as she smiled softly at the infant, "How old is she?"
"Just over three weeks," Daniel answered. Twenty-three days to be exact but he didn't think they cared about that. They hadn't left Earth right away after Alora's…revelation and eighteen days on the Odyssey had brought her age to twenty-three days old.
While a little young to be going on an intergalactic trip, with her natural healing abilities combined with the naquadah in her blood, Dr. Lam hadn't been too concerned about illnesses, but had given her the typical newborn inoculations for her age before they had left and would continue to get the rest of them once they were back and as she grew.
"She is a lovely child," Teyla complimented.
Daniel smiled proudly as if he had something to do with it. "Yeah, she is," he agreed.
"She favors her mothers," the woman continued, "Would Vala mind if I held her?"
He hesitated slightly. "Probably not," he replied, "Just a warning that she may be a little grumpy since just woke up."
"I will not take it personally," she replied with a smile.
Daniel released her completely from the sling and brought her closer to him so he could whisper, "No superpowers," before kissing her and handing her off, "Support her head," he told Teyla softly.
"You seemed to be well acquainted with her," Teyla noted.
"He seems to be protective of her," Ronon interjected with a piercing look.
"I was gonna fond or something, but yeah, that works too," John Sheppard added.
Daniel simply shrugged, not embarrassed or uncomfortable with their observations. "Well, I delivered her, so…" he trailed off, shrugging again.
"You delivered her?" Sheppard repeated, incredulous.
"Long story," Daniel said exaggeratedly.
"I don't believe I have ever seen a child this young and fair skinned with those color eyes," Teyla observed, redirecting the conversation.
Sheppard and Ronon both leaned over the woman's shoulder to take a peek.
"I know I don't know much about babies, but aren't they always born with blue eyes?" John asked, rubbing the back of his head, "At least they've always been blue based on the babies I've met in the past."
Normally, yes, though there were always exceptions, and Alora was the mother of all of them. It wasn't the first time someone had noticed the deep shade of brown that was Alora's eyes, and the excuse they all seemed to have agreed on was that she was an alien, her mother as well. No one had questioned it and most likely wouldn't.
"Vala isn't from Earth," Daniel said in way of an explanation, "neither is Alora."
"Vala's eyes were a gray blue," Ronon noted, and nodded to the infant, "hers are brown."
Daniel frowned at the man. "How'd you know Vala's eye color?"
"Saw them when we were in the briefing," the alien man explained, "Kind of hard not to miss – haven't seen too many that shade."
Why the hell had the man been looking that closely at Vala? They hadn't been seated near each other, meaning the man had to have been staring actively at her. How the hell did he not notice that? Why the hell did he care?
Oh, right. Because he was starting to like her…
"So, she got 'em from her father," John stated the only other option they saw, "He here to?"
Daniel schooled his face and tried not to grimace. "Alora doesn't have a father," he stated, running a finger across her cheek and smiled when the baby tried to follow it after he removed it.
"That is unfortunate," Teyla said softly and tried to sway the baby as she became fussy.
"Not really," Daniel remarked before he could stop himself.
No one had time to comment on his declaration because Alora began screeching and squirming in Teyla's arms. Daniel didn't even hesitate taking her from the woman's arm, not caring if he appeared rude, and began soothing her right away. Almost immediately, she calmed down and burrowed into Daniel and he got the feeling that she was hungry – his hunch was confirmed when she began showing him flashes of Vala.
"It's okay, sweetheart," he murmured to her, "You're okay. We'll go find her."
"You have quite the way with her," Teyla discerned, "You seem to understand her and her needs."
Daniel shrugged. "I've spent a lot of time around her," he told her, "not hard to come to the conclusion she's hungry, especially since it's around that time, and with that, I'm gonna go find Vala."
"See you around, Dr. Jackson," John said, giving a small wave as the man walked away.
"Is it common for the children of your galaxy to not have fathers?" Teyla asked curiously once the doctor was out of ear shot.
"More common than you'd think on Earth," John replied, "Though I don't know much about it throughout the rest of the galaxy. Poor thing, growing up without a father can be tough."
Teyla smiled sadly, silently agreeing.
"She has a father," Ronon declared confidently, and tilted his head in Daniel's direction when his teammates gave him an inquisitive look, "he just doesn't know it yet."
o0o
It hadn't been what he had expected his first trip to Atlantis would be, but it hadn't been a bad experience…for the most part. He could've done without the hypocritical Ancients, but that really wasn't new, now was it.
And at least he got to spend a good portion of it with Vala and Alora.
"It's so beautiful out here," Vala commented as she stared at the stars above them, "Atlantis is beautiful. I can see why you wanted to come so badly."
"Yeah," he agreed quietly, still thinking about today's events.
"I'm sorry it didn't turn out the way you imagined it."
"I knew it wouldn't," he told her, "not when Alora said we needed to come and Sam came up with the dial-in to the Supergate idea, but at least we got some answers."
"I wish those answers could've been a little clear or direct," she said wryly.
"Yeah," he agreed, "But we know one thing at least."
"Only one?" she teased, "And what is that?"
"The Ancients…they won't help us," he said quietly and leaned heavily against the railing of the patio, "we really are alone in this."
Vala stared at him sadly, hating to see him this disappointed. "Not completely alone," she argued softly, causing him to look at her inquisitively, "we've got the Orici and she just so happens to love the both of us."
Daniel straightened and leaned over to get a better look at the child in question. "You're right," he admitted quietly, staring fondly at the infant, "She really does, doesn't she?"
Vala smiled, glancing down at Alora as well. "She does," she reiterated, "and you were right."
He gave her a questioning look.
"The Ori will rue the day they forced me to carry her," she said determinedly, "I will make sure of it."
In that moment, he let his walls down a little and allowed himself to feel something for her and even acted on it. It was a small thing, nothing earth shattering or anything she would even think twice about, but it meant something to him. He closed the small space between them and tilted her chin to meet her eyes before his fingers brushed across her cheek and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, meeting her eyes. Again, nothing revolutionary, but it was a step forward for him, and maybe one day, it would lead to another step.
"We both will," he vowed.