Chapter Twenty-Six
It was like watching a child at Disneyland.
And with Vala, the County Fair might as well have been Disneyland for her with the way she reacted to the cheesy music, the flashing lights, rides, carnival games, and food vendors everywhere. It didn't seem like she had ever seen anything comparable during her travels amongst the stars. There was so much childlike wonder in her and he didn't know why, but it surprised him every time it came out. It shouldn't, considering she herself had told him she had given up her childhood in favor of giving her siblings a better one – she was now making up for lost time and he loved how she viewed his world and seeing it from her perspective.
Vala's incessant questioning was also similar to a child, but Daniel didn't mind. He gladly answered all her questions on what everything was, even though he didn't know what each ride was, its name, or what it did. Her solution was to find out by trying it and dragging each of them along. No one said no to any of the rides and spoiled her when it came to the food vendors. She tried cotton candy for the first time, and they all knew she was addicted after the first taste. The candied apples came next, and then it was what they called food, but in reality was just fried junk, not that it mattered to her. It was the whole experience that mattered, and she experienced it to the fullest.
Daniel hadn't gone to the Fair or Carnivals much as a child, but whenever he did, he always had a favorite, and when he saw the line for it was pretty much nonexistent at the moment, he quickly steered everyone to it. The second Vala saw what it was, she tugged his arm, bringing him to a stop, and he gave her an inquisitive look.
"Daniel, I don't know how to drive one of your Tau'ri vehicles," she told him in a low voice.
He gave her an amused look. "You can hijack a completely alien spacecraft but can't master a car?" he teased.
Vala huffed. "I'm sure I could," she retorted, "but I was under the impression I wasn't allowed without proper documentation."
Daniel laughed at how serious she was being. "I didn't think that would stop you," he admitted before continuing, "But seriously, it's just a kid's ride – look," he pointed to the kids getting into the cars for Bumper Cars, "Do you honestly think we'd allow children to drive real cars?"
She glanced over and noticed that the cars were attached to the roof of the ride. "Oh."
He grabbed her arm and tugged her forward. "C'mon," he said, "you'll like it. I promise."
"You sound cocky."
"Confident," he corrected, "This was my favorite as a child."
She looked intrigued. "Okay, but I'm holding you to it."
SG-1 and Vala picked their cars and got in. Jack laughed at the sight of Teal'c in a small car that he barely fit in and the Jaffa glared at the man.
"Be warned, O'Neill," Teal'c threatened.
"Ooh, so scared," Jack taunted just before the bell rang and the cars could move.
Teal'c went full force and slammed into Jack's car, causing the General's car to get knocked back significantly.
"Damn it, Teal'c!" Jack cursed, ignoring the glares from the parents on the sideline.
"You were warned, O'Neill," the Jaffa simply stated before going for him again.
Jack wisely retreated but the Jaffa kept on his tail.
Vala watched in confusion, not just at them, but at the rest of the game, taking in all the children smashing into each other – on purpose! She narrowly avoided getting hit herself and found Daniel's gaze and glared at him. "Why are people trying to hit me?"
He laughed and drove closer to her. "It's Bumper Cars," he replied, "it's the point," he said just before trying to hit her.
Vala quickly maneuvered the car out of the way before flooring it to hit him instead – hard. "Oh, that is very satisfying," she said afterwards, smirking at his shocked face.
"Oh, you're gonna get it," he warned as turned the car around and went after her again.
She squealed and floored it again, only this time to escape him. He was hot on her tail.
The members of the SGC occupied a corner of the arena, staying away from the children as much as they could. Sam and Teal'c gained up on Jack, leaving Daniel and Vala to battle it out. It was loud in their corner, louder than the children, which was quite the accomplishment. Jack was the main source.
"Dang it, Carter!" Jack yelled, "I order you to stop!" he demanded as she made a hit to his car.
Sam smirked. "With all due respect, sir, no," she responded, sending him a challenging look.
"Carter!" he said in outrage at her defiance.
Sam shrugged innocently. "Court Marshall me," she dared.
Jack gaped at her for a second. "That's it," he stated, "Vala! You're with me!" he ordered.
Vala didn't spare him a glance. "I'm kind of in the middle of kicking Daniel's ass…again."
"Like hell you are," Daniel retorted and to prove his point, he T-boned her.
Vala screeched in outrage. "Watch your back, Daniel Jackson!"
"Ooh, so scared," Daniel mocked, stealing Jack's word from minutes ago.
"Vala, team up with me and we'll take 'em down together," Jack offered.
Vala steered her car over to the General. "Let's do this!"
They did well together against Sam and Daniel, but Teal'c was another matter, and they were hopeless against him. They never got a chance to land a hit, no one did, before the game ended. Vala whined when it did and immediately begged to do it again. Daniel gestured to the long line that had formed during their time in there, and she pouted, not wanting to wait the time it would take for it to be their turn again.
Instead of hopping on another ride, they headed for the games. They came upon a shooting game and Jack stopped, shooting Sam a challenging look.
"What do ya say, Carter?" he said, gesturing to it, "$20 says I whoop your ass." He still wasn't over her defying his orders in Bumper Cars.
"Oh, you're on," Sam accepted, "I'll even let you pick the animal and keep it."
Jack tsked. "We'll see about that."
The two taunted each other as they both played the shooting game, trying to throw each other off. The rest watched in amusement but didn't say anything. Vala gave Daniel a look as if to say 'See?' He didn't disagree but there was nothing to be done and he simply shrugged helplessly.
Much to her dismay, Jack ended up winning. He smiled smugly but didn't say anything. He just pointed to one of the stuffed animals, a bear, and offered it to Sam. "For you, madam."
Sam rolled her eyes but snatched it away from him. "C'mon, I'm hungry."
"We just ate!" Jack pointed out.
"That was junk food!" she responded and looked at the rest, "You guys in?"
Teal'c did his nod/bow thing.
"I actually want to try this," Vala said, pointing to the game, "But you guys go ahead."
They officers shared a skeptical look.
"I'll stay with her," Daniel offered, "We'll meet up afterwards."
The other three nodded and walked away.
"So," Vala said once they left, "the point of this game is to shoot at the animals and hit a certain amount in order to win a prize?"
"Correct," he confirmed, "The more you hit, the bigger the prize you can win."
"Excellent!" she chirped, "Daniel, pay the man so I can play. I want one of those animals."
He rolled his eyes but did it anyway. "These guns aren't the same as the ones we use. They're toys," he warned quietly, "Don't worry if you can't hit any – I can always win you a prize. It's how it's generally done anyway."
"What, males on your planet shoot at targets in a simple game to appear more manly and impress the females?" she questioned quietly, shuffling closer so only he would hear.
"Generally," he answered, "but I don't know if that's the reason, per say. The males just generally play the games to win a prize for their significant other."
"Is that so?" she mumbled before picking up the toy gun, "Well, I'm going to win you a prize and you can marvel in my victory and superiority with a weapon."
Daniel chuckled. "Go for it."
She ended up hitting every. Single. One. He raised his brows, impressed with her skills with the primitive toy gun. That thing was not even close to an actual gun and was often finicky (or rigged, depending on your view), so her hitting every target was quite the feat. She hadn't picked what he had expected her to and was a little surprised when she pointed to a medium sized lion.
"Here," she offered it to him, "Your prize, darling."
He smiled and took it. "A lion, huh?"
She nodded. "I've heard they're depicted as the dominant species among your world's different kinds of land animals and the symbol of courage."
He raised his eyebrows again. "Why do I get the feeling you chose this with a purpose in mind?"
"You could use a little courage in your life," she told him, "Not in your job, of course, but in your personal life."
"My personal life?" he repeated skeptically.
"Yes," she replied simply and moved closer, "I think you could use a little courage there."
"In what regard?"
She shrugged. "Take a chance on something," she answered softly, "A leap of faith, perhaps?"
"On what?" he asked aloud but silently, he added With whom?
"Only you know the answer to that," she said, "but I sense you need the courage."
Daniel nodded slowly before turning to the game attendant and pulled out more money, flinging it at the man and picking up the gun. "My turn."
He didn't do as well as Vala, but it was enough to win a prize. His eyes swept over the array of animals to choose from, but he knew which one he wanted. He had caught Vala eyeing it before she had chosen the lion for him and assumed it was what she had originally wanted. He thought she would have gone for the oversized animals, or the pink, sparkly unicorn, or one of the colored ponies, but she hadn't –she wanted something else and had given it up in favor of him. He pointed to it and the attendant handed it to him.
He stared at it for a moment before handing it to Vala. "For you," he told her softly.
The smile that lit her made it well worth it. She took it and squeezed it to her like a child would. "I love it!" she said, "What is it?" she asked.
"A giraffe," he answered, "It's native to the same place as the lion."
"Fascinating," she quipped and stared lovingly at the toy, "Thank you, Daniel."
"You're welcome."
"What made you choose it?"
He thought for a second. "Giraffes are probably one of the most obvious animals out there. They stick out like a sore thumb, and you'd think that would make them an easy target, but they're not. They're smart, sly, surprisingly fast, and have killed ferocious predators, despite the fact that they don't look like they should be able to," he summarized what little he remembered about the animal, unconsciously moving closer to her, and his voice grew softer, "Looks can be deceiving and people often underestimate them, thinking them to be something different entirely, but they're not – they're something completely amazing."
Vala bit her lip and his eyes flickered to them before meeting her eyes. She smiled. "Are you saying I'm a giraffe?"
A smile slowly grew on his face and without realizing it, he leaned in even closer. "I'm saying you're nothing like I expected," he told her, "You're an enigma, Vala Mal Doran – you constantly surprise me."
"And that's bad?"
"No," he assured her, "You surprise me in a good way. I like it. Besides, I caught you eyeing it."
Neither realized how close they had gotten until their lips were inches away. Something about the mood made Daniel want to move closer, which was crazy. His mind flashed back to last night and he found his eyes going to her lips more than once and she had noticed. She did nothing to stop him, in fact, her eyes did the same, and it was like a magnet was slowly pulling them closer, until their lips were just millimeters away from touching. Just a little more and –
"Daniel! Vala!" Jack's voice called out.
The pair jumped, reality quickly crashing down on them, and they backed away from each other. Vala had a dazed and pensive expression, if that was possible, and Daniel felt the heat in his cheeks.
Daniel cleared his throat before turning in the direction of his friend's voice. "Over here, Jack!"
A second later, he spotted his friend.
"Ah!" Jack exclaimed, "There you two are."
Daniel frowned. Jack sounded weird and he narrowed his eyes at the General. "What's going on?"
"Nothing!" Jack said, but Daniel recognized the force cheeriness, "Look who decided to join!" his thumb jerked behind him, and he barely disguised the sarcasm in his tone.
Daniel looked behind him and saw the problem almost immediately standing next to Sam. No wonder why Jack was in a mood.
"Hey, Dr. Jackson," the newcomer greeted with a grin.
Daniel nodded in greeting. "Pete," he said flatly.
Great, just what they needed.
o0o
Author's Note:
Pete ruins everything...