Chapter Seven

"You did what now?" Mitchell exclaimed.

"What else was I supposed to do?" Daniel demanded, "Let the baby die when I could've done something to prevent it? Like hell!"

"But giving your baby juice to Vala?" Cam shuddered, "You just made a baby with her, Jackson! Vala Mal Doran is your baby mama."

"I'm aware of that," Daniel said deadpanned. The procedure had worked and the baby and mother seemed stable according to Thor but the Asgard recommended that Vala rest for a while, especially since she hadn't gotten much over the past few days. While she slept, Daniel had gone and updated the team on recent developments.

"And she couldn't, you know, use her husband's stuff?" Mitchell said snidely.

Daniel glared at his CO. "Since they're technically getting a divorce, I don't think that's much of an option right now and would be awkward as hell for her to ask."

Cam raised his brows. "A divorce?" he repeated skeptically.

"Essentially."

"Daniel, are you sure about?" Sam chimed in, concerned, "Last I heard, the woman drove you nuts."

"I'm more than sure," Daniel assured his surrogate sister.

"You know," Mitchell began, "you've been acting off since we came back from the alternate reality and I'm beginning to wonder if we actually brought back the right Jackson."

Daniel rolled his eyes at Cam's theatrics. The man could be such a drama queen. "It was an enlightening experience," Daniel told him in a bored, mocking voice.

Mitchell studied him for several seconds. "It was that Vala," he accused, "she did this to you, and that Jackson as well. Seeing them together and their children fucked with your mind, didn't it?"

"It did," Daniel confessed, not ashamed one bit.

"Well, snap out of it, Jackson!" the Colonel ordered harshly.

"What if I don't want to?" he shot back just as harsh, "That experience changed me, changed the way I see things, my perception of my life, for the better. Why would I want to go back to being unhappy? I've been denying myself that kind of happiness for years on account of my fear and I'm done! I'm not going back or snapping out of so fucking deal with it!"

Stunned silence fell. Sam's heart hurt for her friend. While she knew he kept a safe emotional distance from any woman, she never knew just how unhappy he was; none of them did. He had never told anyone, not even Jack, her husband. "I never knew you were that unhappy," Sam confessed quietly, "You never said anything."

"It's not something I even admitted to myself," he tried to reassure her.

"I never even noticed," she continued, feeling horrible that hadn't, "and I should have. Daniel, I am so sorry. I've been a terrible friend. I should've – "

"Sam, you did nothing wrong," Daniel interrupted gently, "I hid it from myself as well as the rest of you, but after seeing what Vala and I could be, I just can't get it out of my head and I know I'll regret it if I don't try. Sam, they had children, three gorgeous children, a near perfect blend of each of them. I hadn't thought about children since before Sha're was taken and seeing that made me want that. I get that he was different from and me and she from Vala but that doesn't mean we can't work here. Seeing them made me admit that I do care for Vala, that I'm attracted to her, and I wanna see where that can go."

"You don't have to explain," Sam pacified, "I just want you to be happy, whoever that may be with. She must be special to generate such a reaction from you and I look forward to getting to know her more."

"Reynolds to Jackson," Reynolds' voice came over Thor's coms.

Daniel grabbed the communication stone Sam held out. "This is Jackson."

"Dr. Jackson, requesting your presence down here," the Colonel practically begged, sounding weary, "We could really use your help with the locals. Despite using the Ark on the Priors and them seeing the truth, many of the people here are having a hard time accepting it."

Daniel sighed, closing his eyes, and tilted his head back for a few seconds before straightening again. "Give me a few minutes, Reynolds, and I'll come down."

"Thank you," the man said earnestly.

Daniel tossed the stone back to Sam and asked, "Can you beam me back down in a few?"

"Yeah, shouldn't be a problem."

"Okay, well I'm gonna go tell Vala and say goodbye," he informed everyone.

"Isn't she sleeping?" Mitchell questioned as he watched Daniel walk away.

"Yep," he confirmed but didn't turn around or pause in his strides, "but I'm not gonna just leave without saying anything."

Mitchell rolled his eyes but didn't comment further.

Daniel quietly snuck into the dark room Vala was sleeping in and sat on the edge of the bed. He rubbed her arm gently as he called out softly, "Vala, wake up."

She stirred and blinked up at him. "Daniel?" she asked groggily, "what is it, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, everything's fine," he assured, "I just wanted to let you know that I'm going down to the planet for a while and didn't wanna leave without saying anything."

"You're sweet," she mumbled sleepily, "Do you need me to come with you?"

"No, that's okay," he brushed away some of her hair, "Go back to sleep and I'll see you later. If you need anything, just ask Sam."

"M'kay," she murmured and burrowed into her pillow. "Have fun."

Daniel chuckled lightly and pressed a small kiss to her head. "Sleep well," he whispered and quietly exited the room.


o0o


This felt familiar to Daniel; convincing people that the beings they perceived as gods weren't in fact gods. He spent the first several months on Abydos convincing the Abydonians that he wasn't a god, that Ra hadn't been. He did it often after joining the SGC as well. It had been a few years since he dealt with people this devout and…well, primitive. Yes, he had done some of this when the Ori first popped up, but not many were like they had been when the Tau'ri had first stepped into the battle with the Goa'uld. Anyways, he remembered how eager he had been back then to share the truth of the Goa'uld, the enthusiasm he had.

Daniel no longer felt that way. He was no longer that young, naïve man and just about had it with these people. The Priors were easy; the Ark had seen to that, but these people were a hard nut to crack, with the except of the resistance. Daniel had been surprised as hell to find out that the man responsible for Vala's punishment was the leader of the resistance, as well as the village's religious leader. Daniel may or may not have punched the man once he found out. In his defense, it hadn't been a hard punch…

After over two hours of trying to make the people see reason, he finally seemed to be getting through since they were actually listening to him and not accusing him heresy. As the approached the third hour, they were finally listening to the Priors and the resistance, leaving Daniel to make his escape, along with the other SG teams. As they walked away from the town square, Daniel separated himself from the SGC personnel, wanting a moment to himself. His wish was not granted as someone followed him.

"Dr. Jackson?" a man asked, "May I speak with you for a moment?"

Daniel rubbed his neck as he sighed and faced Tomin. "What is it, Tomin?" Daniel inquired wearily.

"Your first name is Daniel, is it not?"

Daniel's face scrunched in confusion. "What?"

"On that ship, you said your name was Daniel," Tomin specified.

Still giving him a confused expression, Daniel slowly nodded. "Yes, that my first name." His answer made Tomin ponder. "Tomin, what's this about?"

"I must ask this and I beg you to honest with me," Tomin went on, ignoring Daniel's question, "are you the father of Vala's child or were you telling the truth and it is Orici?"

Daniel gapped at him for a few seconds. "Of course I'm not! Why would you even think that? Tomin, believe me, this baby was the result of the Ori, and I had nothing to do with it." Well, he guessed he was now the father but that hadn't been what the man was asking.

Tomin stared at the archeologist, trying to determine if he was truthful. He could see no deceit in the doctor and slumped in his stance, dejected. "Vala had many dreams, most of them nightmares," Tomin began quietly, looking anywhere but in Daniel's direction, "she refused to acknowledge them to me. One in particular was horrendous and I could do nothing to wake her. I do not know what it was about, but she called out for you many times. When she finally awoke, I pretended to be asleep and she whispered to herself that you were okay and safe. She called you 'her Daniel.'

"After that night, she dreamt of you often, always mumbling your name in her sleep. I finally got the courage to ask her who Daniel was, I realize now she never gave me a straight answer; she led the conversation in a different direction and made me think Daniel was her brother. I see now that is not the case. I know I have no right to demand this but please, I must know; were you and my wife ever…intimate?"

Daniel gave him a sympathetic look. "No, we weren't," he admitted gently, "We were never romantically involved; in fact, she drove me crazy and annoyed the hell out of me."

Tomin sighed in relief and Daniel decided he couldn't keep his intentions from the man.

"Tomin, I want to be honest with you," he told the man, "that's why this may be hard to hear but I think you should know that I do plan on pursuing a romantic relationship with Vala. I know I just admitted that she annoys me to no end while simultaneously driving me crazy, but I recently discovered that I genuinely care for Vala. Last week, I went through something…life changing and I know what we can be together and I'm not about to let that opportunity slip past me."

Tomin swallowed a lump in his throat and his expression made Daniel think of a wounded puppy. "I thank you for your honestly. Have a safe journey home," Tomin managed to get out, turning quickly, planning on making his escape before he paused. With his back to Daniel, he asked hesitantly, "Were you successful in making the Orici human?"

Daniel really wished he hadn't asked that. He wasn't going to lie to the man, but he also didn't want to kick him while he was down. He also couldn't blame the man either; Tomin had spent months believing the baby was his and had already bonded and loved it. "Thor had some unforeseen obstacles, but we were able to figure it out."

Tomin turned his head to Daniel's direction. "What sort of obstacles?"

Daniel sighed in defeat. "There was a piece of the Ori Thor couldn't remove without replacing with human genes or else the baby wouldn't make it. Thor used mine to make up the other half of the baby's DNA."

Tomin eyes widened. "So that means…" he trailed off.

"…that the baby is biologically mine now, yes," Daniel finished for him and shot him an apologetic look. "Tomin, I'm sorry. I didn't expect for it to play out this way."

"Take care of her," was his response, "I see the way she looks at you and know she cares for you a great deal so promise me you will take care of her and the baby."

Daniel felt elation at Tomin's words; Vala cared for him and it wasn't one sided on his part. But now was not the time to relish in this new tidbit of information. "I will. You have my word," he promised sincerely.

Tomin gave him a small nod before scurrying out of Daniel's sight.

"Dr. Jackson?" Reynolds came up to his side, "Are you ready to go, sir?"

"Yeah, I'm done here," Daniel responded, "Before we get the hell out of here, I need to make a quick stop first."