Sorry for the gap between updates. I wrote this part about ten times in the last couple of days and hated it every time. Feel better about this version, so have taken the chance and posted it.

Only one day to go. Then the alien whack-job would be heading back to … wherever the hell she'd sprung from and he'd be off to Ida.

The door to his lab opened and … yep, the alien whack-job herself sauntered in, hands stuffed into the pockets of her absurdly tight denim jeans. Nice legs, the guy part of Daniel commented before he could shut it up. And since when had she started putting her hands in her pockets?

Since she'd met one Major General Jack O'Neill and decided to become best buddies with him and Sam, he reminded himself with a silent groan. "Vala," he said politely. He could do polite — he only had one day more to put up with her.

"Daniel," she said, pulling her hands out of her pockets and sending a dazzling smile to a passing SF. The SF blinked then returned the smile — in a rather goofy fashion, Daniel thought.

What was it with the guys on this base? he mused. Could they not see that she was nuts? Insane? Whacko? Three fries short of a Happy Meal? All they seemed to see was the beautiful face, the long silky hair, the hot body, the … Shut up!, he screamed at himself.

"Is there something I can do for you?" he inquired as she plopped herself down in front of his computer.

She gave him a wide smile. "Now, there's a loaded question!" she said, then stretched her hand out to grab a framed picture. "Who's this?" she asked.

Daniel swallowed hard. It had been so many years since Sha're had died, yet a small part of him had never gotten over that loss. "Sha're," he said gruffly. She was so beautiful in that picture; so shy, so innocent.

"She's beautiful," Vala said quietly.

"Yes … she was," Daniel agreed tightly.

Vala looked at him, then put the picture gently back in its place. "I'm sorry, Daniel," she said. "I've never loved anyone like that," she added. "What was she like?"

Daniel felt a smile pull at his lips as he remembered. Sha're had been so loving, so gentle — yet merciless in her teasing of him. Especially when he attempted to grind the yufeta flour for their bread. "She was as beautiful inside as she was out," he said. "Her people were so different to mine … simple in some ways … complex in others. I think I fell in love with her the moment I saw her."

"Then you're a lucky man, Daniel," Vala said. "I'm not sure I believe in love myself — lust, definitely — but you do, and I'm glad you had that with Sha're."

Daniel just stared at her. Every time he thought he had her down as just a lying conniving nut-job, she came out with something so … profound, so sincere. Damn the woman; would he ever understand her? "Thank you," he said roughly.

She gave him another wide smile. "Don't sound so surprised, Daniel Jackson," she said. "I can be nice sometimes."

Vala looked at Daniel's blue eyes, which shimmered with a hint of remembered sadness, and decided that she much preferred him when he was mad than in this melancholy mood. For a long time, she'd assumed that he was naturally hot-tempered and impatient, until Sam had told her that Jack was the only other person who could inspire those reactions in him. Vala was flattered to realize that she could have such a profound effect on a mild-mannered linguist.

And the fact that he looked taller, broader and more powerful when angry — making him look far more sexy — had nothing to do with it. Absolutely not.

She snorted to herself at that. She could almost hear Jack saying 'And denial ain't just a river in Egypt'. Wherever Egypt was. She pushed a hand through her hair then leaned over to him. "So … what're you doing?"

"I was running a timeline Boolean search for the various cults of …".

"Never mind," Vala cut in quickly. "Maybe I don't want to know after all." She was far from unintelligent — a thief did not survive long by being stupid — but she knew that Daniel was far smarter than her.

Daniel gave her a small smile, the melancholy lifting slightly from his eyes. "So … you were only asking because you were bored."

Vala shrugged. "Pretty much," she admitted, wondering what he'd look like if he were ever to smile fully at her. She'd bet he smiled at Sha're like that, and found herself envying the unknown woman. She shook her head quickly and dispelled the rogue thoughts. Vala Mal Doran did not become attached to people — particularly not handsome linguists with beautiful blue eyes. Aaaarrrggghhh!

"Hey; you okay?" Daniel asked, sounding worried.

She shook her head. "I'm fine, Daniel," she said. "I have a bad habit of arguing with myself." She laughed lightly. "But you already thought I was insane, didn't you?"

A light flush shot up his cheekbones. "Ah … yes," he offered. He shrugged those broad shoulders. "C'mon, Vala; I first met you when you single-handedly hijacked the Prometheus, for god's sake! You'd have to be a little nuts to do that!"

Vala laughed again; she had to admire his honesty. Unlike many of the men she'd met in her life, Daniel Jackson seemed to have very little guile. "Point taken," she admitted. She ran a hand through her hair, pleased to note that his eyes followed the movement. Despite his many protestations to the contrary, he was physically attracted to her. "So, Daniel; have you ever wondered what might have happened if we'd remained … bound?"

"I would've killed you."

Vala winced. All right; so there was such a thing as too much honesty. "Excuse me?" she said.

"You drive me nuts, Vala," he explained. "You lie, you cheat, you steal, you connive. You're a … a whack-job!" He shuddered. "The idea of being tied to you the rest of my life is horrifying."

"I see," Vala said, shocked to find that something in her chest hurt. She'd never truly realized that having your feelings hurt could cause a corresponding physical pain. But she knew better than to let him know. Never would she let anyone have that kind of power over her. She gave him a wide insincere smile and got up gracefully. "I'm bored again," she announced arrogantly. "And seeing as you're not likely to entertain me …".

"I'm not," he assured her.

"I'll go and find something else to do," she finished.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Jack inquired, coming in from the bathroom wearing just a towel around his waist and rubbing absently at his wet hair with a smaller towel. God … yummy. So very, very yummy.

Sam O'Neill blinked and forced her mind out of the gutter it seemed to occupy lately. She'd read somewhere that women sometimes got an increased libido during the second trimester. That was putting it mildly. She'd never been so wanton in her life. "I bumped into Vala today," she said.

Jack gave her a grin. "Ah. And how is our favorite alien nut-farm today?"

"I think she was crying, Jack," Sam said. "She just brushed past me and said she didn't want to talk about it. And she didn't even flirt with Cam."

Jack looked at her. "You think Daniel's ticked her off?" he said. "She's kinda stuck on him, and he doesn't seem to realize it."

"If she'd drop the act for more than five seconds, maybe he would," Sam said. "But …". She sighed and stretched, knowing there was nothing she could do for Daniel and Vala. They would have to work this out between themselves.

Sam watched her husband dry his hair with a shiver of pleasure. She liked watching him. The way his muscles bunched as he moved, the way his hair never stayed in place, the gleam in his brown eyes as he saw her watching him. She'd been with him for just over a year — she no longer had to hide her appreciation of his … ahem, virtues.

"Ja-ack …," she cooed, patting the bed.

He smirked. That smirk that had driven her wild with anger in the past but now drove her wild in an entirely different way. "Again?" he said.

"Yep," she said, pulling the sheets off to reveal the crimson satin teddy Vala had persuaded her to buy at the mall the previous day. Vala had been fascinated by the concept of mall-hopping and had purchased several items of lingerie for herself. Sam didn't even want to know where she'd gotten the money.

"Wow." Jack's eyes bugged out as he saw the skimpy piece of nothing. There was nothing tasteless about it, but it showed off her expanded bust rather nicely and skimmed over her abdomen and hips to end several inches above her knees.

Sam gave him her own smirk as he practically bounced into the bed — so much for old man! — and covered her lips with his.

Daniel and Vala were instantly forgotten.

The next day

Vala watched as the Stargate activated, the wormhole appearing with its customary whoosh, then gripped the backpack she'd been given by Jack to carry her new purchases. Vala Mal Doran traveled light, but she now had some possessions she did not want to part with. Several very sexy items of nightwear — that she'd never gotten to model for Daniel — included.

The man himself stood in the embarkation room with Sam and Jack, his arms folded against his chest. She sighed slightly. Such a nice chest … why did he feel the need to hide it with that over-sized blue jacket?

"Well … it was good to see you all again," she said, then smiled at Jack and Sam. A genuine smile, not her usual one. She'd never had friends before, but she felt that these two Tauri had become her friends during the last few days. "And it was nice to meet you, Jack … Sam."

Sam came over and Vala was shocked when the blonde woman pulled her into a fierce hug. "Take care of yourself, Vala," she murmured.

Vala thought she heard Jack mutter something about hormones, but ignored him. "I always do," she said.

Sam tightened her grip momentarily, then pushed something into her hand. Vala looked at it. A long slim device that looked something like a … a remote control. "What's this?" she asked.

"A GDO," Sam said. She pushed some buttons on the device. "Just press that combination and we'll open the iris for you. So … you have no excuse for not coming back."

Vala was stunned. By all the false gods. She'd never expected this. "Thank you," she muttered, surprised to find her throat closing.

Jack stepped forward. "Hey; enough with the mushy stuff!" he teased, as a tear shimmered in Sam's eye. "Be good, ya hear me?" he told Vala. "For an ex snake-head, you're pretty cool."

Vala rolled her eyes, the tender moment having been thoroughly trampled upon. "And for a sarcastic, wise-cracking jarhead, you're … pretty cool, too," she replied.

"I'm not a damn Marine, for cryin' out loud!" Jack complained, then looked around at the chuckling SFs. They immediately fell silent under his death glare.

Then she turned to Daniel, who now sported a wide grin at Jack's indignation. "So, I'll see you again I hope," she said. "And I hope you enjoy your … dig."

"Uh … thanks," Daniel said. "Take care of yourself," he added.

"And you," she replied. She stepped over to him and ran a hand sensuously from his chin, down over his chest and to his waistband. "I had a good time," she murmured, "but we could have had a great time, if only you'd been inclined."

She dug in her pocket and handed him an envelope. "I think you'll need this back," she added, then strolled up the ramp, took a breath and stepped into the wormhole.

Daniel sighed with relief as the wormhole deactivated. He could finally breathe easily for the first time in days. Even better; Jack was due back in DC in a few hours, so the teasing would go down to practically zero.

"So … what she give you, Daniel?" Jack asked.

Daniel shrugged, then opened the envelope. A gold-colored card fell into his hand. A very familiar gold-colored card. "My credit card!" he breathed. That little witch had taken his credit card!

"Ah … mystery explained," Sam said with a chuckle.

Daniel closed his eyes. All that mall-hopping she and Sam had done the last few days — how much of it had actually been on his dime? Ohhh, she had so better get her ass back here, because I'm going to kick it from here to Othalla! he vowed.

Then he smiled suddenly. She was a thief, a liar, a certifiable whack-job. But, God help him, he'd actually grown to like her.