Chapter Eight
It didn't matter what type of weapon she threw at Vala, the woman was a natural with them all. Beretta, P-90, zat, staff weapon or even a combat knife, by the end of the session, her shots were as accurate as a seasoned military trained fighter. Sam didn't know if she should be impressed or concerned…or both, but later on acknowledged that the former space pirate probably had experience with an array of weapons, both primitive and advanced, and it really shouldn't surprise her. If anything, it made the training go fast, and Vala passed the mandatory test in no time and with flying colors.
But Sam wasn't done. So far, Vala seemed an ideal recruit for SG1, and the Colonel was eager to find out what other talents the raven-haired woman could add to the team. As such, she wanted to see how well she could hold her own in hand-to-hand combat against an opponent as formidable as Teal'c. She had seen the way Vala had fought with Daniel on the Prometheus and was curious to see her moves when she didn't have the option to fight dirty.
"You want me to spar with Muscles?" Vala inquired as she eyed the Jaffa warily, "Surely if I can kick Daniel's ass I am eligible to go off world."
"Barely beating the scholar of the team hardly proves anything,'' Daniel chimed in mockingly, scowling at her.
"Barely? I had the upper hand the whole time!"
"Please do remind me who ended up in a cell afterwards?" he retorted, voice raising.
"You zatted me!" she accused.
"Quit it, both of you!" Sam interjected firmly before Daniel could answer.
Vala looked at Daniel with daggers in her eyes and decided to play dirty.
"Colonel Carter, request permission to kick Daniel's ass to pass my test?" she asked hopefully, imitating a military phrase she had heard on base.
Sam had to hide her amusement at their banter. Having Vala in the team certainly could add some fun to their little trio, and the doubts she'd had about Vala following orders were starting to dissipate. Despite her rebellious attitude, she seemed to respect her authority and was doing her best to follow orders.
"Denied. I already saw you fight with Daniel."
"You did?"
"I'm sorry, what?" Daniel interjected, sounding concerned, with a hint of panic.
Sam bit back a smile at the memory of the footage – particularly how it ended – but refrained from any comments. "SG-1 has a track record of getting into trouble during routine missions on relatively safe and/or abandoned planets. I want to see if you can hold your own and beat the odds against an opponent as strong as Teal'c."
Vala sighed. "Fine," she gave in and joined Teal'c on the blue mats, "Alright, Muscles, let's do this."
And they did. Sam watched as they started by circling around each other, looking for an opening and was focused on assessing her skills. Vala held her own fairly well, seemed familiar with many Jaffa fighting techniques and was able to counteract quite a few, but Sam could tell Teal'c was going easy on her. At least for the first ten minutes. After that, he gradually pushed her harder and harder to test her limits, sending Vala to the floor numerous times. To her credit, the former thief would always get back up and resume her stance at once, even despite the bruises and exhaustion. After watching her for half an hour, Sam was confident that she could hold her own at whatever was thrown at her off world, especially if she could fight dirty like she had on the Prometheus with Daniel.
As Teal'c slammed the raven-haired woman into the blue mat for what seemed like the thousandth time, Sam gave the Jaffa a slight nod and moved on to Vala holding out her hand.
"You're cleared for tomorrow," she announced with a smile while helping Vala to her feet, "We leave at 0700."
Vala groaned. "As in the morning?" Vala whined. She had been here for almost a week now and had gotten familiar with their time and her body had already adjusted to it – a perk of living a life constantly on the move.
"Well, you could always stay here," Daniel interjected.
Vala didn't like his tone. She raised an eyebrow and sent him a look that could only be described as challenging. "I could, but then your team would have no one to translate that language you're so very clueless about," she taunted.
"I've worked with unknown languages for most of my professional life, I'll be fine on my own, thank you very much."
Sam stepped between them to put an end to their bickering and turned to Daniel. "We need her for this one and you know it," she turned to Vala, "Be on time."
Sam fought back a smile as she left the room, glancing over at Teal'c and saw that he too was noticing the…whatever it was between the two. She wasn't exactly sure what it could turn into, but she was curious to see whatever fate had in store for them.
o0o
As he finished the last few sentences of the report, Jack slowly began to shut the folder before looking up at Carter. "So, you think she's ready?" he asked more rhetorically, based on her report.
"I do, sir," Sam confirmed, "She's a natural and held her own with Teal'c."
"Hmm," he hummed thoughtfully, tapping on the report as he thought, "and you think you can trust her at the level needed for an off-world team member?"
Sam hesitated before answering, "I think so."
He raised his brows. "You think?"
She shrugged. "I don't know what else to say, sir," she confessed, "except that at some point, I just have to trust her. She's taken everything I've thrown at her without much complaint and has excelled in all."
"Much complaint," Jack reiterated.
Sam smiled. "She's not a soldier, sir," she reminded him, "This is all still new to her, but she's determined to prove herself and I have to say, I respect that."
Jack sighed and continued to tap on the desk. "Fine, you win," he relented and pushed the file away, "She can go."
Sam's smile turned into a victorious grin. "Thank you, sir."
"Tell Daniel he's still in charge with keeping her in line," he said and at her inquisitive look, he continued, "It's not that I don't trust you, Carter, or doubt that she'll listen to you, but we've already established him as…an authority figure over her. You still give the orders but he's responsible for keeping her in line."
From what she'd seen, Sam had a feeling Vala would listen to her more easily than Daniel anyway but didn't comment. "Yes sir."
"Great," he said in finality, "Anything else?"
She shook her head. "No, that's it, sir."
"Alright, well you all have a go tomorrow."
o0o
First official mission with SG-1 and she was oddly excited.
Instead of spending her evening reading the material Daniel gave her, Vala spent the night reading about SG-1 and their adventures from some mission reports she was able to get her hands on, hence why she was excited. They've had some grand missions for sure and she loved adventures and was always up for some fun. She couldn't remember the last time she was looking forward to something like this.
"You ready?" Daniel asked as they walked together into the embarkation room, the Stargate already spinning.
Vala smiled at him. "Most definitely," she replied, "I'm actually quite excited."
He eyed her skeptically. "Really?" he asked, "Why? You realize that you're not going to be able to keep anything to sell, right?"
She feigned hurt. "Because there is no other reason for me to be excited?" she questioned, "I'm about to visit the world of a race whose long been extinct, how could I not be excited? It's literally a myth coming to life!"
Part of the excitement also came from the fact that for the first time in her life, she felt like she was part of something important and could make a difference. She could help the Tau'ri in their quest to make the galaxy a better place. Obviously, she wouldn't utter a word about this, though.
Daniel was stunned at her answer. Every day, he seemed to catch a glimpse of the woman hiding behind all those walls of lies and sassiness and he had to admit he couldn't help liking what he saw. There were times when he wondered if it wasn't all a bunch of lies made up to mess with him, but at times like this, he could actually see the curiosity and eagerness in her. If anything, in that moment, he knew she was being sincere. They seemed to have way more in common than he'd thought…
"That and I get to spend the whole day with you," she added, giving him a cheeky grin and playfully bumping her hip to his side, "How could a girl not be excited at the prospect?"
And…she had to ruin it, thought Daniel while rolling his eyes. "Don't start," he ordered sternly.
She continued to smirk. "A girl's gotta try," she shrugged innocently, stepping closer, "After all, we did have quite the kiss aboard that quaint ship of yours."
Against his will, his cheeks heated up, and he quickly looked at his two teammates to see if they heard her. Thankfully, they didn't seem to, and he shot Vala a small glare. "Don't," he repeated lowly, "Don't mention that again," he told her in a low, but firm tone.
"Why?" she questioned playfully, "Afraid of where it might lead?"
Daniel refrained the urge to step back from her, unwilling to show she was getting to him and remind himself that it was all an act, her way of deflecting away from something she didn't want people to see – what that was, he wasn't entirely sure, but he suspected it was over her honest answer to his previous question. The only explanation he could come up with for her need to hide her true feelings, her true self, was the fear of facing rejection for who she really was. Something must have happened in her past, leaving nasty scars behind.
His eyes wandered to her open vest revealing way too much skin and his hands automatically went to zip her up. She all but froze at the gesture, observing his movements carefully.
"You know, if you wanted to feel me up, you could've just asked," she teased again to break the moment.
Daniel sent her a nasty look and pulled sharply on the clothing, making her wince in response. "I'm in charge of making sure you follow protocol. That includes walking into unknown territory properly geared up," he explained as he finished his task.
"I'll have you know, showing off my assets is part of the reason why I'm still alive," she sneered with disdain.
"It won't save you from a staff blast. Your vest might. If it covers you properly, that is."
Vala realized he was actually serious, and her curiosity won over any other innuendo she had in store. "How?" she asked, intrigued.
"Our vests are fitted with a material that can withstand staff blasts."
"It was developed last year based on the material on the Kull warriors' armor," Sam piped in.
"I wish they had developed it earlier," Daniel answered Sam with a wince.
"Might have saved you from a death or two," she joked in response, making them both chuckle.
"Wait, Daniel's died before?" Vala asked, looking between the two humans.
"Oh yeah, loads of times," Daniel replied casually.
"He's widely known here as being too stubborn to stay dead," Sam teased, and he rolled his eyes.
"I believe there is also an ongoing betting pool about Daniel Jackson's next death and the manner in which he will return," Teal'c added calmy.
The wormhole opened, shifting their attention.
"Story for another time," Sam concluded, and moved forward, "Time to head out."
Vala gaped as the three headed for the wormhole. "You can't just say something like that and walk away!" she berated and hurried to catch up, jumping through the wormhole, "Not without some sort of explanation!" she continued once she was on the other side.
"It is a lengthy tale," Teal'c stated, "one not suited to be shared at this time. We must focus on the mission, Vala Mal Doran."
She wasn't particularly happy about that. "But you'll tell me when we get back?"
"We all have a personal file that you can access once you pass your probation period," Daniel replied, hoping that would encourage her to stay in line on her own.
Vala heaved out a sigh but didn't argue further.
o0o
She didn't know the language as well as she had hoped and Vala was a little disappointed in herself. She really did want to be able to provide them with the answers they wanted but reading the writings on the pillars proved to be harder than reading the writings on a few devices. On those, she got the gist of what they were and that's probably why she'd had an easier time with it.
At least she was getting the hang of it much faster than Daniel, so there was that. A fact that seemed to bug him tremendously, making it ever so amusing for her…and the other two, she was sure of it.
After twenty minutes or so spent on just the pillars by the Stargate, Vala was positive she knew what they were saying, or at least the general idea – they were directions, but Daniel seemed to disagree.
"For a highly sophisticated race, their road signs appear fairly primitive," Daniel pointed out.
"A lot of advanced races have simple looking signs," Vala argued, "Not every race is like the Goa'uld where they have a need to show off."
He didn't have a good reply to that, knowing that she was right – the Nox had shown them that. "Still don't know how you got road sign," he mumbled to himself, but she heard him and straightened her spine.
"Until you can actually read the language, you need to shut up and stop questioning me!" she replied, exasperated and a bit offended.
Sam hadn't been able to stop the short laugh that escaped, causing Daniel to glare at her.
"Come on, Daniel," Sam berated him gently, "I know you're used to being the language expert, but you need to get over the fact that she knows more. So how about instead of fighting like a bunch of five-year-olds, you two actually need to work together."
Using the pillars as a guide, Vala had determined which direction the city would have been. Daniel argued it wasn't the way SG-9 had gone when they were here, meaning it wouldn't lead them to the ruins they had found. "That's why we're here," he reminded them.
Vala stared at him incredulously. "You would rather root around in some old ruins that are going nowhere than possibly discover a city that belonged to an advanced race?"
Daniel opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
"I'm with Vala," Sam said, "We have a better chance of finding something there than we would at the ruins' location."
"What about the device SG-9 found?" Daniel finally remembered the main reason behind the mission.
"I highly doubt it's going to get up and dance away," Vala quipped.
Daniel looked to his friend. "We don't even know if she can properly read the language," he tried to reason, "We could end up nowhere."
The Colonel conceded to his point, but one of the main goals of the SGC was to seek out advanced technology that would enable them to protect Earth from alien incursions, and Vala's way seemed more promising in completing that goal. "One hour," she compromised, "We go in the direction that Vala believes leads to a city for an hour and if we run across nothing, we head to the ruins."
"But – "
"I've made my decision, Daniel," Sam cut him off and glanced at Vala, "Lead the way."
Vala smiled, but not in a triumphant way – it was a pleased type of smile, excited to be contributing something. She had been worried she wouldn't be able to be what they wanted her to be, but maybe she had it wrong, maybe they didn't want her to be a certain way, maybe they just wanted her to offer what skills she had and use them to the best of her ability – she could do that.
Barely forty minutes later, she proved herself by leading them to what looked like an abandoned city. Now she smiled smugly as she leaned into Daniel. "Tell me this isn't better than a bunch of rubble," she challenged.
Daniel sighed. "I can't," he reluctantly admitted.