Chapter Three
"Tomin?" Vala's disoriented voice asked as she looked around the makeshift infirmary aboard the Asgard ship.
Daniel's face scrunched up. "Vala, it's me, Daniel," he corrected. Who the hell was Tomin?
"No, I heard Tomin call out for me," she corrected weakly.
Daniel didn't have time to respond since Lam and her team came up and took Vala from him, laying her on an Asgard version of a bed, Lam peppering her with questions.
"She's pregnant," Daniel offered lamely and unnecessarily since the doctor could plainly see the bump during her examination of her patient.
Carolyn Lam spared a glance at Vala's midsection before giving out orders for fluids, an IV line, and the ultrasound machine while she began to take off Vala's filthy clothes. "Dr. Jackson, I need you to leave and give my patient some privacy," her voice leaving no room for debate.
Daniel slowly walked backwards out of the room, reluctant to leave but knew Vala was in the best hands. He headed to the bridge to check on Thor and his team's progress with finding the Ark while he waited.
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The SG teams had made progress. They just reached the mountain where the other reality's intel had indicated where the Ark was. Daniel talked about what the other Daniel's instructions had stated but the communication connection had more static that he liked. Though Thor had superior communication technology than the Tau'ri, whatever was causing the interference for the beaming process was also messing with communications. Had they been using the Odyssey's, they would have never gotten a signal once inside the mountain.
When Sam asked about Vala and if Daniel's mission had been a success, he quickly told them that he had her and she was with Dr. Lam. When they expressed concern as to why Lam was needed, he explained the state he found her in, neglecting to mention the pregnancy. It was still something hard for him to admit to himself. Fortunately, or not, depending how one looked at it, the SG teams on the planet hit a spot where coms went completely down and Daniel was spared from explaining anymore. He took a seat against a console and waited for Lam.
Fifteen minutes later, Dr. Lam came and found him, letting him know Vala wanted to see him. When he inquired how she was doing, Lam responded with, "She's doing alright. Pretty dehydrated but we're giving her fluids. The baby appears to be doing fine, which is incredible given what she and her mother have gone through."
"She?" he asked gingerly, "The baby's a girl?"
Lam winced slightly at her slip. "Don't tell Vala. She doesn't know yet and I don't know if she wants to know."
"I won't," he promised as he walked with her back to the infirmary. He stopped outside. "How far along is she?"
"I'd guess roughly halfway, give or take a week or two."
Whoa… Vala either was pregnant before she ended up here or had gotten pregnant shortly after arriving. What the hell had happened to her during her time here? Well, he was going to find out. Determined, he entered the room.
Vala looked better once she was cleaned up and in a fresh pair of scrubs, though the top was a little snug against her midsection. She still had an IV in her arm, but she had regained some more color. She sat up straighter when Daniel entered the room. "Daniel," she whispered, still slightly in disbelief. "It really is you. I was afraid I was dreaming or something."
Daniel took a seat at her side. "It's real," he assured her. "How are you feeling?"
She gave him a tight smile. "Better," she responded quietly, "It feels good to be clean again and to have some food and water."
"How long were you out there?" he asked, trying to keep the anger out of his voice.
"Today was the beginning of the third day."
"Damn it," he bit out, anger getting the better of him "and no one stepped in? No one helped? You're pregnant for gods' sake!"
"They would've been branded an unbeliever as well," Vala retorted, "Seevis would've seen anyone who helped me as one and wouldn't hesitate to kill us both."
"Don't make excuses for them," he told her, "someone should've done something."
"How'd you find me?" she changed the subject, effectively ending the other one.
Daniel huffed. "That's a long story," he warned, "Anywho, it looks like you have a more exciting tale than me," he motioned to her belly.
Suddenly self-conscious, she rubbed her belly and looked away. "Depends on your definition of exciting."
He waited for her to say something else but after a minute of silence, he gave up. "Were you pregnant before coming here?"
She shook her head. "No."
Damn, then she must've gotten pregnant almost immediately after arriving. He thought back to an earlier conversation he had with her back on Earth, he remembered her saying that it was hard to survive out there for a woman and that a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. He also remembered what the alternate reality Vala had told him what life was like for a former host. It wasn't an easy one and would probably force said ex-host to into situations they'd rather not be in but were and had to do whatever it took to survive. But the main question on Daniel's mind was who was the father? His thoughts jumped to the man he dismissed not long ago, the man who called out for Vala just before Thor beamed them up. Vala had called him Tomin.
"Who's Tomin?" he asked her cautiously, "Is he the father?"
Vala looked at him in surprise when he said the man's name. "He's my husband and no, he's not," she confessed.
"Your husband?" he exclaimed, shocked. She got married? And he wasn't the father? "You got married?" he voiced his thought.
"I had to," she told him, "I had no other choice. Who knows what they would've done if they found out I was pregnant out of wedlock. Tomin asked, I accepted, and hoped the timing was close enough."
Being pregnant was one thing, but married? Gods, why did the universe hate him? Why didn't it want him to be happy? It wasn't like she could just go and get a divorce. The Ori followers didn't seem the type to allow that. Daniel tried to ignore the pain that was shredding his heart once more, a heart that had just started to heal, and focus on Vala. She was more important right now.
"So, who's the father?" he questioned gently.
"That's the thing, I don't know," she confessed.
"Ah," he sighed and tried to not let his thoughts follow their normal pattern when it came to Vala. He didn't want to think badly of her or berate her for being careless and a flirt – he had no idea what she had to do to survive in this crazy galaxy where they burn people alive for the smallest things. "I see," was what he came up with.
"I don't think you do," she told him, her voice getting shaky, "Daniel, there is no possible way this baby can exist. Before coming here, I hadn't been with anyone for at least six months. I've done none of the necessary bits that would result in a child."
"What about Arlos?" he shot out quickly.
Vala's face scrunched in disgust. "A simple potion with suggestive powers. Never slept with the man," she shot back just as fast.
"So that mean…" he trailed off as he realized what it actually meant.
Vala mistook his sudden silence as something else. "Exactly! There's no way for this child to exist but here it is, and I'm scared out of my mind Daniel! Have you ever heard of such a thing happening?"
Oh gods, no. No, no, no, no. Daniel thought as he realized the implications of her miracle pregnancy. Vala was carrying the Orici. Her baby was of the Ori, a child they had to kill in order to fully destroy the Ori once and for all. Her baby was the final piece to ending this war. Up until going to the alternate reality to steal the ZPM, Daniel had never realized just what Vala had gone through in her life; her time as host and what being a former host entailed for her life going forward. He often forgot what she had already endured in her life and the crappy hand she had been dealt. It seemed like the universe wasn't done with screwing with her life in cruel ways.
Daniel stood and flung an abandoned tray of medical stuff against the wall. "Fuck!" he yelled and paced, angry at the situation he was now forced to deal with. The baby couldn't live. It, she, would undo everything they accomplished today. But how could he bring himself to kill Vala's baby, the child of the woman he could finally admit to himself that he cared for? He honestly didn't know if he could.
"Daniel?" Vala's timid voice brought him out of his thoughts, "what's wrong? What is it you're not telling me? Do you know how I'm pregnant?"
Daniel stopped pacing and reclaimed his seat and grabbed her hand. "I do," he reluctantly admitted, "and I'm so sorry."
"Sorry?" she repeated, fear creeping into her tone, "Daniel, what do you mean you're sorry?"
He squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head. "Those fucking bastards," he muttered to himself before attempting to gather the courage to tell her. Looking back at her, one of his hand lodged into her hair on the side of her head, while the other one still held her hand. "I can't think of alternatives and I don't know what else to do. I don't want to do it, believe me Vala, but it has to be done and I don't see any other way."
"Daniel, you're scaring me," she said, voice wobbling, "What are you talking about?"
"Jackson?" Mitchell questioned as he and the rest of the team walked in, "What's going on?" he asked, eyes glancing over to the medical tray and instruments spewed over the floor.
Daniel released Vala from his grip and somberly looked at his friends. "It's Vala," he told them and received confused looks and he expanded, "Vala's pregnant and her baby is the Orici."
"Oh my God," Sam let out, horrified for the woman.
"You've got to be kidding me," Mitchell exclaimed in disbelief.
"Mak lo onak," Teal'c said, sympathy lacing his words.
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Author's Note: So, not a big surprise to anyone, but necessary for the rest of the story to enfold and for Daniel's and Vala's journey to begin! Next few chapters will be different and where it really starts going AU and my creativity kicks in.
As always, let me know your thoughts!
