Author's Note: I accidentally chose the wrong chapter to update so ignore that. I deleted the other and this is the correct one. Sorry about that!

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Chapter Seventeen

Once Sam had gone through the highly sophisticated program Daniel had written for the Odyssey, in relation to the ZPM and dialing the Supergate, General Landry had finally allowed it to be uploaded to the ship's computer. Even though Sam had practically no idea what she was looking at, Landry only wanted her to go through it to ensure there was nothing malicious on it, despite the fact that it was written by Daniel…err, Merlin.

Sam hadn't been able to make heads or tails of it, much like the obelisk that was responsible for sending SG-1 to a different planet every few hours while they were at Merlin's lab, but she had recognized some of the coding and knew it was Ancient. She didn't have a clue how it worked or what it would do to the Odyssey's systems, but she trusted Daniel and he trusted whatever Merlin wrote down on that computer, even though he didn't remember writing the program himself.

It paid off since they were not only able to dial the Supergate, but somehow the program allowed the ship cloaking capabilities, making it possible to use the same program on other Daedalus class ships – yes, they would need ZPMs to give all their ships cloaking capabilities, but it was still something.

The point was, they were ready, and it was now time to go.

Vala once again asked to be a part of the mission and Landry granted permission. Daniel had questioned her reasoning for going again, and she had simply told him that she needed to see this through. Alora would be under the excellent care of Dr. Lam so she had no concerns about leaving her. Besides, if everything went according to plan, the mission shouldn't take too long.

Then again, when did things ever go according to plan?

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"Princess!" Mitchell greeted as he and Teal'c took a seat across from her in the Mess hall.

Vala flinched in surprise, not having heard or seen them approach, too lost in thought. "Boys." She hadn't really seen them since they left Earth not long ago. She hung around Sam in the beginning to see if the Colonel needed any help but when it became apparent she didn't, Vala headed for the Mess and hadn't moved since.

Mitchell gave her a soft look. "How you holding up?"

She gave him a puzzled look. "What?"

"You know," he said like it was a given, "with leaving Alora and all. You were a little anxious last time and I wanted to see how you're doing this time around."

She forced a smile. "I'm fine," she replied.

"You do not appear to be fine," Teal'c observed gently.

"Well, I am," she insisted, "It's not the first time I've left her and I'm sure it's not the last. Besides, thanks to Daniel's program, we should be back in no time."

"Speaking of Jackson," Mitchell began, pausing to swallow a bite of food, "where is he? Thought he'd be with you…or you with him."

Vala shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

She swore he was avoiding her. She didn't have proof nor did she know why, but she was positive that he was. He had even stayed away from Alora for the most part – at least when she was with her. It all started after he was released from the infirmary and she didn't know what happened from the time he found her in that science lab and later that night at the team dinner, but something had occurred and it caused him to avoid her as much as he could. Thinking more about it now, he probably remembered something from when Merlin was in his brain and was in control for the most part. While in that state, he called her beautiful and told her that she and Alora were important to him – in what way, he didn't say, but maybe Daniel was embarrassed about that?

Whatever it was, it was probably for the best…right?

Mitchell and Teal'c continued to talk amongst themselves while she stayed silent, just listening and thinking on how different things were going to be once the Ori were gone. Sure, they had to find a way to deal with the Priors and their followers, but surely once the people in the Ori galaxy found out that they were dead, they could help stop the crusade in the Milky Way. It wouldn't be instantaneous, but it would be a start and that's all they needed for now.

"Jackson!" Mitchell greeted loudly as he spotted the archeologist walk in and waved him over, "We were just talking about you."

Daniel made his way over, reluctantly it looked like to Vala. "Oh?" he asked, and pulled out the only chair available, next to Vala, "About what?"

Mitchell waved his hand above his head in a circle motion. "The whole program you wrote, making the mission possible."

"That was Merlin, actually," Daniel corrected, "I have no idea what he did or how it works, just like with the device."

"At least the device came with a user's manual of sorts," Vala chimed in, "We can put together the last few pieces and set the timer with the instructions yo– Merlin left – that's all we really need."

"How do we know if it worked?" Mitchell questioned, "I was always a bit fuzzy on that part."

"Celestis," Daniel and Vala said in unison, causing them to look at each other.

Daniel didn't stare at her long and looked away when he realized what he was doing, clearing his throat. "The City of Celestis contains a mantle of the Ori that burns continuously. With the Ori gone, the fire should be gone, and hopefully will signify that they're dead and we're telling the truth."

"So, we have to go down there?" Mitchell questioned, looking unhappy.

"We have to know if the device worked," Vala told him, "and our best shot at stopping the crusade is having someone there persuade the Priors here that the Ori are really gone."

Mitchell gave her a peculiar look. "Should you really be going down there, Princess?" he asked warily, "You are the mother of the Orici after all."

She waved off his concern. "I'll be fine," she assured him, "they probably think Alora and I are dead from the explosion on that ship. She's useless to them now and they know that."

"Still nothing from her?" Daniel gingerly asked, speaking to her directly for the first time in a few days.

Her eyes shifted to him and smiled ruefully. "Nothing," she confirmed.

The two had a moment, whether they knew it or not, but the other two at the table did and shared a look before quickly finishing up their snack.

"Well," Michell said after a moment of silence, causing the other two to break eye contact, "Teal'c promised to let me try some of my Sodan moves on him again. Time for him to kick my ass."

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed, a small smirk on his lips.

Mitchell glared at him as he stood. "You could at least pretend that I have a chance," he grumbled.

"And set you up for false hope?" the Jaffa questioned as he got up too, "What would be the point?"

Mitchell continued to complain as they headed out of the mess, leaving the other two in silence.

Daniel fidgeted with his coffee cup, doing his best to ignore her without being outright rude, and Vala assumed he was wanting to find a way to gracefully exit without hurting her feelings, so she decided to spare him the trouble and rose from her seat, causing him to look at her questioningly.

"I'm going to go to see what Samantha is up to," she informed him.

But before she could take a step, he blurted out, "What did Dr. Lam's tests say?"

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Vala paused and frowned at him and he regretted stopping her from leaving, but he couldn't help it. He had been wondering about them since he had woken up after his ordeal with Merlin. The day he woke up, Vala hadn't come back to visit him and after he had been released, he had forgotten to ask when he found her fiddling with the Goa'uld device. He planned to ask her about it later but that was before Sam insinuated that he had serious feelings for Vala and she for him, and he had been avoiding her ever since.

Vala walked around the small table and took the seat Teal'c had just occupied. She still looked confused and he suspected that she had caught on to the fact that he had been avoiding her. He cringed on the inside. He didn't want her knowing about that, he didn't want her thinking she had done something wrong, which she hadn't, but she was smarter than people gave her credit for, including himself. She noticed and he was flooded with guilt, hating that he had possibly hurt her. She didn't appear as if she had been hurt by his actions, but he also noticed that she had barely looked at him or acknowledged him, telling him that he had hurt her.

He cursed Sam in his head. This was her fault, she's the reason he was avoiding Vala. If only she hadn't brought up his feelings for Vala – yes, he could admit he felt something for her beyond friendship and it was the reason for staying away from her.

"For Alora?" she asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

He nodded. "Yeah."

She shrugged. "What we already suspected," she replied, "that she's only utilizing roughly the same amount of her brain like most humans do."

"Roughly?"

"It's a little higher," she confessed, "Carolyn thinks it could be from her Ori heritage."

"Permanent?" he asked.

She gave a false smile. "Most likely," she answered, "She's basically half human, half Ancient – she's bound to be slightly more advanced."

He nodded in understanding. "So, she'll most likely retain her healing ability?" he speculated.

"In all likelihood, yes," she replied, "We'll have to wait and see…but at least she's safe from them. They can't use her anymore or hurt her."

He hesitated before asking, "How're you holding up with all of it? I know you were conflicted about it."

A range of emotions swept over her face, confusion, frustration, and anger were among them. "I'm sorry," she said in a patronizing tone, "are you done ignoring me now? I'm worthy of your time once again?"

He sighed and should've known this was coming. "Vala, it's not like that."

"So you weren't outright ignoring me?" she questioned cynically, "Because it felt like you were."

There was no point in denying it and he wasn't even going to try. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely, "It was stupid and immature."

Now she looked hurt. "So, why did you?" she demanded, "What did I do?"

Shit, he never wanted her to feel like it was her fault. "You did nothing, I swear."

"So, why?" she asked again, "Is it because what you said when Merlin's consciousness was in you? Because if it is, I don't hold it against you. I know you weren't yourself."

Daniel straightened, instantly on alert. "What did I say?" he demanded. She paused and didn't reply so he pushed, "Vala?" he dragged out.

She bit her lip before saying, "You called me beautiful," she admitted before quickly adding, "and then compared me to someone Cameron believed to be a whore in the whole Camelot group."

His eyebrows shot up. "I what?" he asked, voice going up an octave.

She smiled at him. "Don't worry about it, darling," she rushed out, "I know you weren't yourself."

"Who the hell did I compare you to?" he asked, "I don't remember any whores, excuse me, prostitutes, in any of the stories."

She shrugged. "I don't remember the name," she said apologetically, "and it's not surprising that Cameron got it wrong. Let's forget about it, shall we?"

Still confused, if not a little suspicious, Daniel agreed. At least she didn't ask for his reason for avoiding her again, and that was a blessing in disguise.

o0o

Vala always admired her ability to think fast and she was thankful it hadn't failed her today. She knew Daniel held no romantic feelings for her and the thought alone probably made him laugh. She hadn't been lying when she said she didn't hold anything that he said during that time with Merlin against him. Just because he had called her beautiful and had told her that she and Alora were important to him didn't mean he meant it in that way, and that's why she had lied to him. If she had told him the full truth, he would go back to avoiding her, and she didn't want that. She wouldn't be on Earth for much longer and she wanted her remaining time there not to be spent avoiding Daniel or him avoiding her.

It probably would hurt more in the longer run, but she didn't care at the moment. She would worry about it later.