Author's Note: Some suggestive (barely there) content ahead but nothing crazy. Just a warning!
Lemme know what you think!
o0o
Chapter Nine
"We good to go?" Mitchelll asked seconds after Daniel and the rest of the SGC personnel were beamed aboard the Daniel Jackson.
"Yep," Daniel replied, stepping close to his team, "the people, with the Priors help, finally seem to be accepting the truth, and they all should be fine. One of the Priors did tell me that the fires of Celestis were out, so at least we know the Ori really are gone."
"That's a relief," Sam sighed in relief.
"Indeed," was Teal'c's response.
"Yeah, yeah, good," Mitchell said casually, "I'll go let Thor know we're ready to head out," and he headed towards the Bridge.
"What's in the bag?" Sam inquired, pointing to the sack cloth bag Daniel held.
Daniel shrugged it off nonchalantly. "Just something for Vala," he said in a similar manner, "Speaking of her, did she wake up at all?"
"Yeah, over an hour ago. Before you ask, yes, she ate – a lot actually," Sam supplied before he could ask, "Afterwards, we just talked and got to know each other better before she went back to her quarters."
Daniel gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks for doing that, Sam."
"No big deal. Besides, it was nice to get to know her," Sam told him, "after all, she is the mother of my godchild."
He groaned, suddenly remembering the stupid bet he made a few years back. "I'd forgotten about that."
"We didn't," Sam teased with a big smile, "You've got a lot of explaining once we get back; Jack's going to very interested at the recent turn of events."
"Shit," he grumbled as his head fell backwards, making him stare at the pristine gray ceiling. "That'll be fun," he mumbled sarcastically, dreading explaining this to Jack.
"Indeed," Teal'c added in and elicited another smile from Sam.
"Thanks for the support, Teal'c," he shot the Jaffa a mock glare, "Anywho, I'm gonna go find Vala. If you need me, you know where to find me."
Sam gave him a simple wave and Teal'c did a slight bow as he walked away, heading for Vala's room.
He didn't even knock before entering and found Vala propped against some pillows on the bed with her head back and was staring at the ceiling of the ship thoughtfully, rubbing her bump at the same time. She looked his way and sent him a small smile as she shifted in the bed. "Hi," she greeted quietly, almost shyly, making him frown on the inside. Since when was Vala Mal Doran ever bashful?
"Hey," he greeted back and walked towards the bed, "how are you feeling?"
"Almost like brand new," she brushed off his concern and nodded her head to the bag with an inquisitive look. "What's in the bag?"
Daniel laid it next to her on the bed. "It's for you. Open it and find out."
Still giving him a curious look, she shoved the sides of the sack away and pulled out a familiar piece of cloth. She shot him a surprised look. "Is this…" she trailed off, as if she couldn't believe what she was holding.
"Yeah, it is," he confirmed softly, grabbing another dress out of the sack, "I met Denya. You know, it's a little cliché that you found a friendship with the one person not outwardly pure in a village like that – a prostitute no less," he joked.
Vala glanced down at the fabric of one of her maternity dresses, fingering it. "Not very surprising, you mean," she corrected, "You probably think I'm no better than her, given my past."
"I never said that," he argued firmly.
"You didn't have to," she countered, "and I know you've thought it."
"Maybe," he confessed quietly, "but that was before I understood what it was like for you, after Qetesh."
"Don't," she demanded sternly, "don't pretend like you know me or could possibly understand what it was like for me or why I am the way I am."
Instincts told him to fight back, to argue like they normally did until it became a full-blown fight, but he squashed the urge down. Something was up. It was like she wanted a reason to be angry with him or to try and provoke an argument. Daniel stared at her, analyzing her expressions, body language, the works – trying to figure out what was going on with her. The only answer he came up with was that she was scared of something. Taking a deep breath, he asked gently, "Why are you trying to start a fight?"
"Don't be ridiculous!" she protested, "I'm doing nothing of the sort. Besides, you started it with the snide comment about Denya."
There she went again. "I was trying to make a joke, a poor one I admit," Daniel tried to placate, "What I was trying to say was that I met Denya when I was helping the people down there. We talked for a bit and when she found out that we were taking you back with us, she suggested that I gather some of your maternity clothes since we didn't anticipate you being pregnant when we set off so the clothes we brought for you are essentially worthless for now. Now that that's been explained and out of the way, wanna tell me why you're wanting to fight?"
"I don't know what you're talking," she denied again, "Why would I want to do that?"
"I don't know but I wish you'd tell me what's got you on edge or what's wrong."
"Daniel, there isn't anything wrong," she told him, almost convincingly.
Despite what she said and thought, he liked to think that he did know her pretty well by now, especially given the enlightening bits of information provided to him by the other Vala. Granted, his Vala and that Vala obviously had different experiences, but for the most part, the main essential parts of who Vala Mal Doran is were there. Something was definitely bothering her, and he would get to the bottom of it. When his intense stare got to be too much for her, she looked away and began fiddling with the dresses he procured. Daniel tried to think of could've transpired in the few hours he was away. Sam had said she slept for most of it, only having been awake for over an hour and had spent most of it with Sam, talking. Wait, Sam! Had she…?
"Sam told you," he declared, breaking the silence the room had descended into, "she told you about the alternate reality, didn't she?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," she firmly refuted.
"Vala…" he dragged out warningly, sitting at edge of the bed, he gently shifted her chin, so she was looking at him, and raised his eyebrows at her.
Her demeanor took a complete change; she suddenly became the flirty space vixen he knew so well. She pushed aside the clothing and saddled up to him as seductively as she could while almost five months pregnant. "It doesn't matter and besides, I don't want to talk."
Daniel held in a sigh but wrapped his arms around her as she straddled him; he didn't want her to lose her balance and fall. "Vala, what are you doing?" he asked with patience.
"You know, pregnancy isn't all bad and it has some perks; my sex drive increasing is one of them. It's terrible inconvenient," she purred seductively and brought her lips to his ear, "Mind helping me with that? Afterall, you did express remorse that we weren't able to conceive this child naturally."
Daniel held in a groan as his body reacted to how she moved purposely on him. How could he not with her seductive words and movements? It's a defense mechanism, Jackson, he reminded himself as he put his hands on her hips, preparing to gently remove her from his lap before he got an idea. "Okay, love to," he quickly said and flipped her on her back as swiftly and carefully as he could. He hovered over her and held back a grin at her shocked face.
"What?" she squeaked before cleaning her voice and asked skeptically, "You would?"
"Yes," he said nonchalantly as he ran his hands up and down her sides and gently buckled his hips into her, "Granted, I wasn't planning on our first time being on an alien spaceship or you already being pregnant with my child, but what the hell?"
Vala pushed at his chest until they both were sitting up, Daniel still straddling her lower half. "Okay, who the hell are you and what've you done with my Daniel?" she demanded sternly, "Because there is no way you're him; he would've never agreed to my proposition."
His hand found her cheek. "I told you; something changed me and I'm done living a half-life," he said simply, "and I think you know what that something is. Now, you wanna tell me why you were trying to start a fight one minute then trying to seduce me the next? What are you afraid of Vala? Talk to me, please."
Vala tried to escape his gaze and his hold on her but it was no good; he held tightly and cupped both her cheeks and made her look at him. "I'm not her," she hated how her voice shook or how vulnerable she sounded; she blamed the extra dose of hormones.
Daniel's face softened. "I don't want you to be," he stated firmly, but gently, "She wasn't my Vala; she was his. You are unique, one of a kind and you are my Vala, the one meant for me, just like I'm meant for you. I did not and will never want her – only you."
She closed her eyes to prevent any moisture in her eyes from becoming tears. "Sam also told me about Sha're and Janet," she gingerly confessed, still not opening her eyes, "I'm not them either; I cannot and will not be a replacement for either of them."
He barked out a short laugh, making her open her eyes to look at him. "Is that what you think? Vala, you could never be a replacement for them; they're irreplaceable," he told her and smile softly when she looked hurt, "Just like you, irreplaceable. I'll admit, I did love them both very much and they left a huge impact on my life, but you, well it's different with you."
"How so?" she asked hesitantly.
"Well, first off, you're incredibly different from both of them," he started off, "While I can admit now that I did love Janet, I was still too scared and jaded from losing Sha're and I never did anything about. She couldn't help me get past the fear, no matter how much I cared for her. I was never willing to risk it with her and then it was too late. With Sha're, it was different; I was younger than and so naïve. We didn't choose each other; she was a gift, one I didn't know about at first, but it worked out in the end; that is until Apophis came. Sha're was simple, naïve to the ways of the world, hell galaxy, but I loved that about her. Janet was soft but yet fierce; tough but also caring.
"But you, Vala Mal Doran, you are the complete opposite of both of them. While you have traits in common with Janet, and maybe even Sha're, you're not anything like them. It takes a special kind of strength to survive what you had to survive, and not just your time as Qetesh but what followed after her extraction. I admire that about you. It also takes a special type of intelligence to survive in this galaxy as a former host as well as a space pirate. You're intuitive, brilliant, innovative, cunning, brave, compassionate – don't look at me like that, I saw the way you were on P8X-412 when you couldn't help those people – anyway, you're compassionate, adaptive, sexy as hell, and so much more. I've been drawn and attractive to you ever since we met on Prometheus.
"I tried to tell myself that we were so wrong for each other that it wasn't even funny and that I couldn't even imagine what a relationship with you would look like. I viewed you as an unstable emotion wreck, not that I'm much better. There was a time where I thought I could never get over Sha're, certainly not with you, in fear of being hurt that way again. But going to that other reality changed all of that. The other me also lost Sha're but he was still able to risk it and now he's happily married with four children. I know we're not them, but we can be our own version of that. I know we'll still argue and fight, I know we won't be perfect, but I also know if I took that risk and it ended badly, I would never regret trying. I was essentially dead inside until you came along and while you scare the living shit out of me, if I hadn't gone to that reality, I don't think I'd ever come around and try to risk it with you. I now want to, so I'm begging you to leap with me, Vala. Yes, we're not them, but we can be us; we can make it work, I know we can. All we have to do is try. So, what do you say, will you try with me?"
After his speech, silence reigned...
