Chapter Twenty-Five
Daniel ended up lying there for just over two hours before he felt like he could slip out without worrying about her having another nightmare. While he didn't mind being there for her in the way she needed, he wished it hadn't given him so much to think on that kiss – well, overthink in his case.
He wasn't sure if he was in denial or if he actually believed Vala hadn't meant anything romantic by it, just purely comfort on her part. He wasn't sure what to believe when it came to her and it took him all of ten minutes to come to that conclusion, leaving him almost two full hours to think about how it made him feel. And it wasn't just the kiss that was bothering him, but Vala herself. From the time she left that planet, most of his thoughts had been centered around her, and it only made it worse when he barged into her room and saw her like that.
He had always held protective feelings towards his teammates, they were his friends, his family, so it was natural, but with Vala, it was a different type of protectiveness, and he wasn't sure what that meant. It wasn't just a feeling but an instinct to want to protect her from everything that caused her pain and when he couldn't, he wanted to take out whatever produced it before shielding her from the rest of it and getting her through it. In this case, it was the people on her planet. He hadn't liked them upon first acquaintance, and it only intensified as the Chancellor kept talking. The urge to punch the man was real.
Come to think of it, the last time he felt like this was with Sha're after she was taken – the need to find her, to make her safe again, and hurt the man who took her. The self-righteous anger he felt after her death was similar to what he felt now – wanting to make Qetesh pay, make whoever started the stoning pay. The same feeling of protectiveness was coming to the surface and Daniel didn't know how to stop it – or even if he wanted to.
Damn it, he thought, Fuck. Damn it. Shit, I'm screwed. "So fucking screwed," he mumbled to himself and rubbed his face before exiting his room.
It was best not to dwell on it.
And he needed coffee, lots of coffee. He had slept poorly due to his thoughts going everywhere and him trying his best not to think about any of it. The struggle was real, and he found it disconcerting that he was battling his own mind over his own thoughts.
Stop thinking about it, he told himself and headed to meet the rest of the team for breakfast. If he didn't, he was going to give away something and he couldn't have that. Jack would catch it in an instance and wouldn't relent until Daniel spilled everything. Sam would probably join forces with Jack, and they would tag team. The downside of having two military officers as family...
Though he was a little anxious to see how Vala was doing this morning. He knew she'd pretend like nothing happened and that was okay. He would just try to read her mood and body language – like that was easy, but what else was he supposed to do?
"You stay here again last night?" Jack asked as they met at an intersection in the hallways, "You're just as bad as Carter."
"Good morning to you too, Jack," Daniel quipped.
"You look like crap," Jack continued, falling in step with him, "You need your beauty sleep if you wanna keep up that foxy appearance the alien women seem to love."
Daniel rolled his eyes. "Thanks," he said sarcastically.
"No, seriously," Jack insisted, "you need more sleep, Danny Boy. Can't keep staying up all night reading about dead things."
"Kind of my job."
"Take it less seriously. The dead people and ruins ain't going anywhere," Jack assured him, "Vala has been good for you in this instance. Since she's been here, you haven't worked yourself to death as much."
"I'm sure that's not true," Daniel refuted, but was it true? He frowned internally at the thought.
"It is. Trust me," Jack insisted, "So, what was it this time that kept ya up?"
Vala, but he wouldn't admit that. Before the nightmare, he actually headed for his quarters before midnight, which wasn't the norm for him. "Believe it or not, I just couldn't seem to fall asleep," he admitted, "There was too much running through my brain." Not a lie.
"That," Jack paused for dramatic effect, "I can believe. What were you thinking about?"
"Nothing," Daniel denied almost instantly.
Jack's eyes narrowed. "Liar," he accused, "Nothing wouldn't keep you up all night."
"Who was up all night?" Sam asked as she and Vala joined the two and walked with them.
"Daniel," Jack tattled.
Daniel sighed. "Jack," he grumbled.
"Vala didn't sleep well either," Sam disclosed.
"Samantha!" Vala said in outrage.
"What?" the Colonel asked innocently, "You said it was nothing and it's not like you asked me to keep it quiet."
Jack eyed the two sleep deprived people. "So what the hell were you two up to last night?" he asked.
"Nothing," they denied simultaneously.
"'Cause that doesn't sound suspicious at all," Jack retorted, and gave them both a suspicious glance. "Just what kind of translations kept you two up?"
"Galvarian," they said together again and shared a look and a small smile.
"Stop that!" Jack ordered.
"Not like we're doing it on purpose, Jack," Daniel told him.
The General sighed. "Let's just go eat," he suggested as they arrived at the Mess with Teal'c waiting outside for them.
o0o
A knock broke him out of his concentration and Daniel looked up to see Sam standing in his doorway.
"Hey," she greeted.
"Hey," he reciprocated, "What's up?"
She did a quick glance around the room. "I was actually looking for Vala," she replied, "I wanted to see if she wanted to grab some lunch but looks like she's not here."
He took a quick look around the room before going back to his work. "No, she was too restless and accompanied Teal'c to watch him train some new recruits."
"Ah," she nodded, walking closer and gingerly asked, "Can I ask you something?"
Her tone made him look up. "Sure," he said cautiously.
"Has Vala seemed…" she paused to find the right word, "off to you?"
"Off?" he repeated.
Sam leaned forward on his desk. "Yeah," she confirmed. "She was up earlier than I've ever seen her and pretty quiet when we hung out in my office before breakfast. She didn't seem like herself, and I was wondering if you maybe knew why?"
Daniel never promised to keep his mouth shut but he got the feeling that Vala wouldn't appreciate him telling anyone. He picked up his pencil and continued to write out the translation. "She seemed okay to me."
"Seriously?" she asked incredulously. "Did you not see the woman who sat quietly at the breakfast table this morning?"
He knew she knew he noticed, and he couldn't deny it at this point. "You said she was up early," he pointed out, a fact he wished he had known. "She's probably just tired."
Sam hummed thoughtfully. "Has she said anything to you about yesterday?" she asked quietly, "It couldn't have been easy to be back there, even if it was just for a few minutes."
Daniel did his best to appear if it didn't interest him and he didn't know what he knew. "I'm sure she'll be fine."
There was a pause.
"Daniel!" Sam snapped.
Her abrupt tone caused him to flinch and fling his pencil. "Sam!" he chastised.
She looked unconcerned and narrowed her eyes at him. "You know something," she stated.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he denied coolly as he picked up his pencil.
She stood up straight and wagged a finger at him. "Not gonna work," she told him. "Spill."
He sighed. "Sam," he said hesitantly.
"Daniel," she replied firmly. "I'm not gonna let this go, so you might as well tell me or else."
"Or else what?"
She smirked. "Or else I'll send General O'Neill in to get the information," she threatened.
He glared. "You wouldn't." Jack would be relentless and there would be endless teasing involved, most likely him suggesting that Daniel had feelings for Vala or something, and after that kiss last night, he did not want to go through that.
She crossed her arms. "Try me."
There was a stare down for a minute or two, but Daniel knew her, meaning he knew she wouldn't break.
He broke eye contact and sighed unhappily. "Fine, you win."
Sam smiled smugly and leaned forward. "Tell me everything."
o0o
Sam had listened quietly to Daniel's tale and once he was finished, she smiled sadly and thanked him for telling her before leaving the room and him confused as well. It wasn't until a few hours later when she briefly dropped by and told him to be ready to leave the base 1700 hundred before disappearing again that he knew she had been planning something when she left his office earlier, and it involved cheering Vala up. He was down with that.
Five minutes until 1700, he met the rest of the guys at the elevators, and together, they waited on the women. "Any idea what Sam has in mind?" Daniel asked the two.
"Not a clue," Jack admitted. "Carter just came into my office and respectfully told me that I needed to be here at this time so…." he trailed off, spreading his hands, gesturing to their surroundings.
"Colonel Carter requested my presence in a similar manner," Teal'c answered, "But she did not inform me as to where we would be going."
"Same," Daniel said, "Well whatever it is, I think it's for Vala's benefit," he confided.
"I figured," Jack admitted softly, "I read Carter's report on yesterday's mission."
Meaning he knew it was Vala's former home and they all knew what transpired the last time she was there. They also assumed that yesterday's visit had brought things to the surface, things Daniel knew to be a fact and that Vala wasn't dealing with it well. Hence this outing. It was something SG-1 did whenever one of them was struggling with a mission or something like that, and now that Vala was becoming a part of the team, it was something they needed to do for her.
It was kinda amazed Daniel that Vala had so easily become a part of their team and dare he say it, their family. He meant what he had told her last night – she could be a part of their family if that's what she wanted, and they would accept it and her without question. He offered her it, and it was up to her to accept it. Tonight, she could really see what kind of the family they were and what they could be to her.
But he was still calling her the crazy, eccentric cousin…for now.
"…bunch of backwards, crazies," Jack's voice broke through Daniel's thoughts, bringing him back to the moment.
"They were indeed an unpleasant sort of people," Teal'c concurred, "Vala Mal Doran is wise to keep her distance from the planet."
Daniel grimaced. "It's not like she had much of a choice," he said quietly. It was either stay away or go back and die.
Jack eyed him. "She okay?" he asked gently.
Daniel shrugged. "I don't know. She doesn't really want to talk about it," he told them, refusing to tell someone else what Vala had confided – it was bad enough that Sam knew, he'd be damned if he told Jack or Teal'c.
"You're not gonna have her work on the translations from that place, are ya?" Jack asked.
Daniel winced. "I…uh," he cleared his throat, "I didn't bring anything back with me," he admitted.
Jack raised his brows. "Really?" he asked, surprised.
He shrugged. "If I wanted to know anything on Qetesh, I could always ask," he half joked, "But I didn't see anything worthwhile to bring back or study."
Jack knew what he meant but didn't comment on it. "You know, sounds like the only good thing to come from that place is Vala."
"Indeed," Teal'c concurred.
Daniel couldn't have agreed more but didn't voice since he spotted the women, and they joined the group seconds later.
"Alright, who's ready to go to the County Fair?" Sam asked excitedly.
The men barely suppressed a groan.