Set in the future — Season 10-ish. Please note that I haven't seen S9 yet (am on wrong side of the pond), so if I get characterizations wrong, forgive me! Sort of a sequel to my fics 'A To Z', 'Coffee And Conversation' and 'Turning The Tables', but you don't need to have read those to understand this. However, if you want to, I'm not going to stop you (hint, hint, hint!).
Doctor Daniel Jackson was in a really good mood. He'd finally found a coffee house that made the perfect latté, no-one had tried to kill him for several months, and next week he would depart on the Daedalus for a month-long dig in the Ida galaxy. Bliss.
"Morning, Daniel."
The other reason he was in such a good mood lately. "Morning, Sam."
Jack O'Neill and Sam Carter — two of his greatest friends in the whole universe — had finally quit kidding themselves and gotten their acts together. They'd now been married just over four months, and Sam was six months pregnant. With twins. Jack had worn the biggest most stupid grin Daniel had ever seen for two days straight after Doctor Lam had given him that little gem.
He smiled at the blonde scientist. Sam had always been a beautiful woman but now … now she was truly happy. And it showed. Daniel was no fonder of clichés than Jack, but she truly glowed. Jay Felger had gotten even more tongue-tied around her lately — possibly scared of the wrath of Jack O'Neill if he flirted.
Yet Jack was a surprisingly unpossessive husband. He was secure in Sam's love for him and was thrilled at his second chance at a family. Daniel had met the man just after Charlie's death and had witnessed him change gradually from the suicidal angry man he had been to the happy contented family man he now was. Pain in the ass that he often was, Jack deserved happiness. Perhaps more than anyone Daniel had ever known.
Jack was still Head of Homeworld Security, although he'd been making increasingly loud noises about retiring — noises to which the President and the Joint Chiefs turned an amiably deaf ear. They'd even placed something called a 'stop loss' on his file for the next year, meaning that Jack wouldn't be allowed to retire. The only way out of the Air Force for him would be desertion; which would mean court martial and jail.
Jack had not been a happy camper when he'd learned of the 'stop loss', but Sam, Daniel and Teal'c had managed to convince him he was too young to retire, anyway.
"Unauthorized off-world activation!" the PA rang out. "All defense units on stand-by!"
Daniel skipped neatly to one side and tugged Sam with him as a bunch of SFs flooded down the corridor toward the embarkation room. "Huh; wonder who we've managed to piss off this time?" he commented wryly.
Sam chuckled at that comment. "I think you've spent way too much time with Jack," she said affectionately.
Maybe. Daniel knew he'd changed a lot since he'd met then Colonel Jack O'Neill over a decade ago. He'd hardened — and not just in the physical sense. But he'd only truly realized it when Cameron had called him a damn good soldier.
Doctor Daniel Jackson. The man with the perpetually-sliding glasses and allergies. The man who'd barely known which way to point a gun ten years ago had become a soldier.
A few years ago, he might have been offended at being likened to a soldier. But he now had a great respect for the military establishment and was honored to be associated with the brave and noble people who made up the SGC.
"Doctor Jackson to the embarkation room!" the PA barked out.
Daniel smiled at Sam as she went off to her own lab — she'd stopped going off-world last month — and headed for the embarkation room. He strolled in and approached Cameron. "Hey, Cam," he offered. "What's going on?"
Cameron Mitchell, SG-1's co-commander, looked at Daniel and sighed tiredly before stepping to one side. "Look who's back," he said.
"Daniel Jackson," said a very familiar, very purring voice.
Vala Mal Doran.
Daniel sighed heavily and looked at Vala's beautiful face. She was a thief, a liar, a certifiable whack-job. But, God help him, she was sexy as hell. "What d'you want?" he asked rudely. He couldn't help it; she brought out the worst in him.
The lithe woman tossed her long black hair and pouted. "That's not a very nice welcome after so long apart, Daniel," she said, a small smile tilting her lips. She sashayed over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I've missed you."
He slid out of her grasp. "The feeling's not mutual," he assured her, glaring at her.
"Fine!" Vala said. "I have some intelligence on the Ori, but if you're not interested …". She looked around the embarkation room, seeming to enjoy the Daniel/Vala show.
Cameron sighed this time — funny how this woman brought that out in everyone. "Vala; you know the routine," he said. "Report to the Infirmary, then we'll debrief."
Vala smiled — a dazzling one that made half the SFs simply gape. "Yes, Commander!" she said, throwing him a mocking salute.
Another sigh. "That's Colonel, Vala," Cameron said patiently.
Vala shrugged. "I keep seeing you in black leather and being a Commander." Her dark eyes raked his form lustily and Daniel snickered when the bold, brave Lieutenant Colonel took a step backward. "You'd look very sexy all in leather, Colonel — ever thought about it?"
"Daniel!" Cameron sighed. "Take Vala to the Infirmary, then escort her to the briefing room. I'll go speak to the General."
"God; I wish I wasn't stuck in DC!" Major General Jack O'Neill complained. "I'd love to meet this woman who has Daniel so in knots!"
"I know," Sam consoled him from her phone at the SGC. "I'll take notes, though."
"It isn't the same," her husband said childishly. "Hmmm … I haven't dropped by for a while. And there's those quarterly statistics I need to review with Hank."
"Jack … you don't need to fly here just for that," Sam warned. He could be such a child at times.
"I haven't seen you for nearly two weeks either," Jack said. "Aren't you overdue for a Jack O'Neill patented massage?"
Sam growled under her breath at the memory of those strong clever fingers rubbing away the kinks in her back brought on by the twins, those strong clever fingers smoothing lotion into the ever-lengthening stretch marks on her stomach. Damn, the man had skills. She shivered at the erotic memory of what had followed the massage. "As soon as you can get out of there, O'Neill; get your ass on a plane!" she ordered.
She was pretty sure she heard him snicker at that. "Yes, ma'am!" he said softly.
Several hours later
Daniel escorted Vala out of the briefing room, sighing when she put a hand on his butt and squeezed it. The woman just didn't know how to take 'No' or 'Get lost' for an answer. "I'll show you to your quarters," he said.
Then he saw a tall, very familiar figure heading their way. Oh God, no! Jack O'Neill. And Vala Mal Doran. Either one of them was capable of creating galaxy-wide chaos on their own. But together …?
"Daniel!" Jack said exuberantly, strolling up to them. "And you must be Vala," he said.
"I am indeed," Vala purred, slipping her hand through his arm. "And who are you?"
Jack blinked, then smiled widely at Daniel. "Jack O'Neill."
"Oh, you're Jack?" Vala smiled her own wide smile. Daniel had the sudden image of being surrounded by sharks. "I've heard a lot about you, but I thought you'd be … older."
Jack gave a sudden yelp and Daniel smirked — yep; Major General Jack O'Neill had just been goosed by a former Goa'uld. "Don't let the boyish good looks fool you, Vala," he said, stepping away slightly. "I'm really very old. Not like our Daniel."
Daniel closed his eyes as Vala's hand landed once more on his own butt. How had such a good day gone bad so quickly?
I've never written a Daniel fic before, as I have trouble giving him voice. He doesn't have such obvious personality quirks as Jack, but I love the Daniel/Vala dynamic — what I saw on 'Prometheus Unbound', anyway. I know Daniel's had a lot of 'luuuurve' interests on the show, but Vala's so different to the others. And Claudia Black (who plays Vala) is a fellow Aussie! Yay!