Chapter Twenty-Three

When Vala emerged on the other side of the wormhole, backwards, she felt the tension release from her body. She was safe, back at Stargate Command, and SG-1 would most likely be okay now that she was no longer with them. They would have no reason to hurt them, not even if they were discovered at the Qetesh's palace – the stupid snake always called it as palace as opposed to a temple. Even if the palace did land them in hot water, Daniel would be able to sweet talk his way out of trouble. He did seem to have a knack for it.

Once the 'gate shut off with a snap, Vala twisted around and took about two steps before noticing the number of armed guards – pointing weapons at her. She immediately put her hands up. "It wasn't me, I swear," she declared almost automatically.

The door to the 'gate room opened and Jack walked through. "Stand down!" he ordered, walking towards her, "Vala?" he asked expectantly.

She smiled. "General," she greeted, missing his insinuation.

He raised his brows. "Whatcha doing back so early?" he asked and glanced at his watch, "You left, oh, say, five minutes ago or so? And where the hell is the rest of your team?"

"Oh, I forgot to look at the planet's symbols before leaving and it turns out I have a bit of a history there," she replied nonchalantly, "Thought it would be best if I came back rather than put anyone at risk."

"Vala – "

"They're fine," she told him seriously, "and they'll continue to be now that I've returned to Earth."

Jack nodded slowly. "Okay, good."

Vala gestured to all the guards. "What's with all these fine gentlemen pointing guns at me?" she asked, "Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered, but I sent my IDC through, so what's with them?"

He shoved his hands into his pockets and glanced around. "Normally, when a team gates back barely five minutes after they've departed, it generally indicates they've landed in hot water and/or are being shot at."

"Interesting," she commented before walking down the ramp and handing off her weapons, "Since I'm no longer helping SG-1, I thought I would do a few more drills today, targeting a few different areas."

Jack raised his brows again. "Is that your way of asking?" he inquired, "Or are you telling me?"

Vala grinned. "I wouldn't dream of superseding your authority General," she responded in mock seriousness.

He grinned back. "Go and hunt down those risks," he granted, "And call me Jack, would'ya?" he said before walking away.

o0o

When SG-1 returned, Vala had been in the middle of another live drill, forcing Daniel to wait until she was done to talk to her about his latest mission. He wasn't sure if he should let on to the fact that her stepmother had divulged information on her past, but he would do as Adria asked and relay her message to Vala, which meant that she would know that they had met. He wasn't sure how she would take it.

He waited for her to finish up, but hours passed and every time he sought her out, she was always busy. He eventually went to Jack to berate him for working Vala so hard, but the General had news for him – Vala was the one insisting on the constant flurry of activity. While it was possible that he grossly underestimated how much she enjoyed working for security, his suspicions were aimed at her trying to run from her problems – mainly her issues with her home planet. Her last visit hadn't exactly gone well.

But she couldn't run from her problems, he better than anyone knew that, but that didn't mean he never tried. He had this urge to help her, but he highly doubted she would let him. She only really opened up to him when she was on an emotional high and always immediately regretted it. She rarely shared with him, but then again, he rarely shared anything with her unless confronted point blank with something.

Maybe he should try a different approach.

o0o

"There you are," Daniel said as he spotted Vala in the Mess eating dinner, "You seemed to have disappeared after leaving the planet."

Vala looked up from her plate of spaghetti and grinned. "I've been keeping busy," she told him.

"So I've heard," he said, taking a seat across from her, "How'd it go?"

"They caught me twice."

"That's good."

"Out of six attempts," she expanded with a dry smile, "but it's something and they're starting to understand different ways an intruder would approach a certain area, especially if it's an unknown location."

"It's a good start," he said, "and you seem to be enjoying it."

She smiled smally. "It's nice to use my ability to infiltrate places undetected for good and not self-gain." It sounded like she meant that.

He smiled back. "Yeah, I bet," he said, and hesitated before admitting, "I'm proud of you, you know? I know it hasn't been easy to give up the tricks of your old life, but you've done an amazing job and I'm proud of the effort and progress you've been making."

Her expression showed bewilderment. "Thank you, Daniel," she said sincerely.

"I should be thanking you," he corrected, "You're proving General Hammond right, that he wasn't crazy for bringing you on, and that means a lot to me."

Vala sat up straighter. "Well, it's my absolute pleasure," she told him and pushed away her plate, "So, what do you need me to help with? Galavrian translations? Goa'uld? Ancient?"

Daniel raised his brows. "You've spent all day running around the base, trying to outsmart them, and you want to spend the remaining hours translating some old texts?"

She shrugged. "It winds me down and helps lull me to sleep," she said casually, "Mind numbing, you know?"

He rolled his eyes. "Haha," he said mockingly, "but if you're up for it, I could use your help."

"I'm up for it."

"Alright, I'll meet you in my office once I'm done here."

"I'll get started on what you're currently working on," she offered before getting up and leaving.

o0o

"How's it going?" Daniel asked as entered his office twenty minutes later with a cup of steaming coffee.

"Slowly," Vala replied, not looking away from what she was working on, "I've gotten to the science-y bit of the Galvarians work and it's difficult to put into Tau'ri words."

He took a seat. "I wouldn't necessarily call it Tau'ri words," he disputed, "It seems to be the general language of the galaxy so…"

"I was referring to your planet's scientific names and terms – it's like another language entirely."

"I won't argue with that," he agreed and picked up where he left off.

They work in a comfortable silence for a little bit before Daniel remembered he had a message to deliver and wasn't entirely sure how he should say it. Just blurt it out? Be more stealth about it? What approach would be better for Vala? It didn't seem like her and Adria had a close relationship – hell even a good relationship – so that made things more complicated.

"What?" Vala asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

He hadn't realized it, but he had been staring at her as he debated what to do, making this a little harder. "I, uhh," he paused, composing himself, "How are you doing? You know after the…planet and all."

Yes, he was a coward, but let's try to ease into it.

Vala stiffened. "I'm fine," she said in a clipped tone, "You don't need to worry."

"You sure?"

"Yes Daniel, I'm sure," she said curtly, "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't ment– "

"I met Adria today," he blurted out before she could throw up the wall. He regretted his abruptness at her stricken face.

"Oh," she mumbled, and her eyes fell.

"She, uhh, she asked me to tell you that she's sorry," he relayed awkwardly, "And that she wished she had done better."

"Did she?" she said bitterly.

"She also told me about your siblings," he hesitantly confessed.

Vala chuckled emotionlessly. "She certainly was chatty, wasn't she," she remarked.

Daniel grimaced. "I'm sorry," he offered quietly, "I understand – "

"You don't understand anything!" she cut him off harshly. "Just because Sha're was a host, doesn't mean you understand me! This has nothing to do with being a host."

"No, it's about losing the people you loved the most," he agreed, not allowing her angry tone get to him, "and believe it or not, I've been there."

"Oh really?"

"Really," he said, "I watched my parents die in front of me when I was a child. I watched my wife die, and I watched a friend whom I really cared about die in front of me as well – so yeah, I do understand."

She was silent for a minute. "Oh," she mumbled dumbly, "Daniel, I…I…"

"You don't have to say anything," he said, taking pity on her, "I know you technically have family alive, but you lost the ones who were your real family – I know what that's like."

Vala looked guilty. "I'm sorry," she said earnestly, "That was unfair of me. I knew about Sha're and how she died, so what I said was untrue."

Daniel smiled softly. "It's alright," he assured her, "I know you're hurting."

"I never said that," she denied immediately.

He tapped his pencil as he stared at her, wondering what he could say that would get her to trust him on a deeper level. She trusted him on a level where she felt safe with him – as a teammate, friend, or whatever – but not to the point where she'd tell him her darkest secrets. He didn't expect her to bare her soul to him, but just enough to open up a little and without fear that he would use it against her. He wished she realized that he wouldn't view it as weakness.

"After my parents died, the only family I had left was my grandfather, Nick," he began, surprising himself a little that he was sharing this, "On Earth, when something like that happens, the next of kin normally takes care of the child, but my grandfather had no interest in raising a grieving child. He was an archaeologist like me and had no desire to give up the life of adventure."

She was stunned. "That's awful," she sympathized, "and I'm sorry that happened to you, but why are you telling me this?"

"To show you that we're not that different," he replied, "Yes, I know that you've gone through some things that I will never truly understand, but we've both lost people – we both have been abandoned by the people we thought we could count on."

Vala softened. "I…I never knew…I never thought…" she stopped herself and cleared her throat, "What happened to you? You know, after your parents?"

Daniel smiled ruefully. "I went into the Foster Care System," he answered before explaining what that meant. He even went as far to share about some of his time in the system.

When he finished, Vala was silent and just sat there, spinning in her chair as she stared at him.

"You okay?" he asked.

She sighed. "I practically raised them, you know," she said randomly, "I mean, who else would? My mother died giving birth to my sister and Jacek wasn't around, so who else was going to look after her?"

"How old were you?" he asked gently.

"Eight," she mumbled, "I named her, you know?"

"Yeah?"

"Mysia," she said. "It's a bird on m– the planet I grew up on. Probably not the most original, but I was eight and she wouldn't shut up like the bird so…"

He didn't acknowledge that she didn't refer to the planet as her home. "It's beautiful."

"Jacek was able to con Adria into marrying him," she continued, "and once it was done, he dropped her off three weeks after mother's death and left. Adria didn't handle it well."

"Yeah, she mentioned she wasn't the best of mothers, step or otherwise," he admitted.

"Bit of a witch if you ask me," she remarked, "but what do you expect? I wasn't easy to deal with and she was bitter over what Jacek had done."

"She was the adult," he said. "You didn't deserve however she treated you. She was supposed to be the bigger person and take care of you."

"She wasn't meant to be a mother," she said simply. "It's not for everyone and it wasn't like she was cruel. I just resented her for stealing my childhood, but I didn't realize it until I was older that she didn't have much of a choice. She couldn't mother us and ensure that we had something to live on. She made choices and had to compromise. I was collateral damage."

Damn. "Vala, I'm sorry," and he was. At least he had a resemblance of a childhood.

"Don't be," she said and meant it. "Had they lived, it would've been more than worth it to ensure they had better – in fact, it was for the time they were alive."

He smiled smally. "You must've been a kickass sister," he commented. "They were lucky to have you."

Vala met his eyes. "No," she disagreed softly, "I was lucky to have them."