Chapter Seventeen
They'd taken her.
Whoever they were. They had snatched her from their home, a place that was meant to be safe, a haven for her, and they just had come in a ruined in while he had been out, exchanging baby sheets that were apparently the wrong color. He had only been gone for no more than thirty minutes, which means they had been watching and waiting for the right opportunity, which also meant that he nor Vala had noticed someone watching them – something that was hard to do with the two of them since they both were highly trained people, given his line of work and training, and her former occupation that offered no mercy should she fail to realize she was being watched or followed. So how they hell did these people slip past them? How did they know she was even on Earth? Knowing that she here meant that the SGC, IOA, NID, or whoever had spies, and he was going to uncover them and find just where the hell his girlfriend was.
With the help of Agent Barret, they thought they had found her; in all fairness, they had, they just weren't able to retrieve her before everything went to hell and was somehow missing again. So here he was, checking every hospital and clinic that was anywhere near the warehouse she had last been spotted at. He couldn't even tell you how many people he called in that moment unless he counted all the crossed-out names on his list, but it was enough that he was starting to get discouraged, if he wasn't already. Time to do something else.
Getting up from his desk, he buried himself in research for hours.
"Hey," a soft and cautious voice broke the silence.
Daniel's head swerved over to his office door. "Hey," he said in surprise, "what the hell are you doing here?"
"Well, that's a nice way to greet your best friend," Jack retorted, offended, "I got here as soon as I could to help with the search. What can I do to help?"
"Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out that," Daniel quickly apologized, "and right now I'm just going over what we've learned from the Trust operative," and he continued to explain where his research led him based on intel from the Jaffa and Tok'ra, everything with Athena, and 'The Key to Infinite Treasure,' and why Vala was taken.
"That reminds me, I'm supposed to check in with Major Harper," he went to his phone, "He's got people querying hospitals in the area Vala disappeared. It's possible she may have been injured and has been unable to contact us," he brought the phone to his ear and started dialing.
"Daniel," Jack started cautiously, "I just spoke with the medical examiner's office. They're doing DNA testing on the remains recovered at the blast site, but it's gonna take a while."
Daniel pressed the hang up button, looking at the phone in front of him. "You know, when Vala first disappeared when the Ori gate was destroyed, I refused to write her off. Although the odds were against it, I believed somehow she found a way to survive, and it turned out I was right. I wanna be right again – I need to be right again. Jack, I can't lose her, I can't lose my daughter."
"You love her."
"I do," he didn't even try to deny it, "but she isn't ready to hear it yet. Jack, I need to find them."
"We will, Daniel," the General promised
Daniel simply nodded and started to redial the phone, effectively ending the conversation.
o0o
She had a feeling that she wasn't a very good person before she lost her memory. The first she remembered was after losing her memory was that she was in a gun fight or something. People were shooting all around her and someone even died in front of her. The warehouse had even exploded behind her after she'd exited. What kind of life had she lived previously? Had she been trying to get out of it for the baby's sake? The kicker was that she had no clue as to whom her child's father was or if he was even a good man. The few flashes she had hadn't been happy, cheery ones she'd expected or hoped for; no they were filled with horrible things, things that didn't even seem possible. As more of them happened, she was certain of one thing – she didn't want to remember who she was or what her past was like, not based on the few things that seemed to pop into her mind.
She didn't even remember her name and only had what was given to her by Sal of Sol's Diner.
She became Val shortly after her acquaintance with Sal. Boy had she been lucky to have met him when she did. She had been lost, confused, and had no idea who she was. She had nothing but the clothes on her back when she wandered into Sol's Diner and felt guilty as hell when she realized she needed money to pay for the food but had none. Even more so when he caught her trying to sneak out. Not every man, she'd come to realize, would've taken pity on her as she explained why she couldn't pay for her meal nor promise to come back and do so. She wasn't even sure if he had believed her at first when she told him she didn't remember anything. But she would forevermore remember how concerned he looked after he said it.
"We should get you to a hospital," he told her and grabbed her arm.
She had flashed back to something; she wasn't sure if it was a hospital or what but the thought of going to a hospital scared her, even though she knew she should have, especially with the baby. But the flash she had scared her and she'd pulled her arm away in a panic and exclaimed, "No hospitals!" she wasn't sure why she was scared but she was.
Sal had seen her distress and calmed her down, telling her she didn't have to. As he surveyed her, he saw bruises along her arms; they were faint, as if they were new and just starting to appear, and he saw a small cut along her hairline. He became instantly worried and concerned that she was running from an abusive ex; he assumed she finally had the guts to leave him for her child's sake and was faking the amnesia thing. He was a father of daughters and right then, his anger at whoever hurt her was great and his protective instincts kicked in. He gently led her to the back of the diner, to his small office, and sat her down.
"Are you in trouble?" he asked gently and carefully., "Are you running from someone? A bad situation? You can tell me; I'll make sure you're safe."
"I'm not sure," she told him, "I don't remember but I have this feeling that something bad or dark happened before I lost my memory, and I don't know what it is. But the thought of it frightens me and I don't know who to trust."
Sal had always prided himself on being a good judge of character and believed her when she said she had no memories before entering his diner. Maybe the mother fucker who hurt her was responsible for the memory loss as well as the bruises and cut. "You can trust me; you can stay here and I'll give you a job so you can earn some money, enough so you can leave and get you started somewhere else."
"Why would you do that, for someone you don't even know? You don't even know if you can trust me."
" 'Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it.' Hebrews 13:2," he quoted.
"So you think I'm an angel?" she asked skeptically.
"No, but the lesson in the verse still stands; show kindness to people for you never know who they are or what that kindness can do," he told her, "Besides, I have a good sense about these things and I get a good feeling from you."
"I don't know how to even thank you."
"Just prove me right," was all he had asked.
And she had. Things were going well for her, as well as they could. While she had flashes of horrible and very disturbing images, she thrived in that small dinner for the two weeks she was there. If only those two men hadn't tried to rob the place, if only she didn't some weird reflexes that could disarm and subdue two grown men while six or so months pregnant, but she did and it opened a whole new can of worms that she wasn't ready to deal with. The moment those Air Force officers came into the Police station, she immediately knew something wasn't right and there was something off about the story given to the detective. She was sure he believed her when she tried to tell him something want right as they led her away.
Causing the accident in her condition was stupid but she had a gut instinct that it was better than the alternative for whatever they had planned for her. Thankfully, she wasn't really hurt and the baby seemed fine. She hadn't counted on the blonde on the motorcycle coming after her, claiming to be the real Colonel Carter. She attempted a few times to tell Val that her name was actually Vala and that they two of them were friends. This Samantha referred to her child as a girl and tried to get her to remember someone named Daniel. The name brought up some type of feeling within her, one she wasn't sure she could identify, one she wasn't sure if she'd ever felt. In the end, she left the blonde woman in motel room, handcuffed to the bed, after bandaging her gunshot wound.
After Val left the motel room, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched, no matter where she went. The final straw that made her flee the streets was watching a police cruiser stop upon seeing her and used their radios; she quickly got out of sight and ended in another warehouse. She had been hoping to hide out for a bit, hoping that whoever was following her would lose her trail, but it seems like she was out of luck when she heard someone enter the warehouse.
"Vala?" a voice called out hesitantly and it struck something within her. "Vala, it's me Daniel. We know you're in here; there's nowhere else you could've gone. I know you're scared, but we're not here to hurt you. We can help you remember."
Did she know this voice, this person? Why did she want to trust him?
The shooting started moments afterwards and luckily, both parties didn't seem to know where she was. She grabbed the gun she hid in the waistband in the back of her pants and waited for her moment. One side seemed to be gaining the upper hand and she knew she had to make a move soon or else. She glanced quickly in the direction of the exit before making a break for it. She was almost home free when a man suddenly appeared in front of her, aiming a bizarre weapon at her.
"Get out of my way," she ordered, "Get out of my way or I will shoot," she warned.
He raised his hands in surrender, lowering his weapon, but didn't move out of her way. "I know you don't remember who you are, but I do; you won't shoot," he stated confidently, "Vala, it's me, Daniel."
The shooting suddenly stopped; one side had won, this man's side. With a slight whimper, she re-aimed to gun that had wavered a bit.
"If I let you go I know you're gonna make yourself disappear; you've been running for so long, it's almost second nature to you," he told her gently, "You may not remember it, but you promised to stop running and it's time to come home, with me. Remember me, Vala," he implored.
"No, I don't know who you are," she tried to deny and held back the tears.
"I'm your Daniel, the father of your child, our daughter," he responded, "Our little girl, our Ellery Clare. Named after our mothers, remember?"
Just like that, new flashes came to her, but this time, they weren't like the others. They were sweet, cheerful, and loving; they were flashes of him, of her, of them together, of them kissing, laughing, talking, cuddling. The other people in the building made an appearance every now and then but they were mainly of the two of them.
The gun wavered as she remembered her Daniel. "Daniel?" she whispered in fear, uncertainty, and in relief as she stared at the man whom she now recognized.
Daniel cautiously took the gun from her before wrapping her in a tight hug, feeling relief sweep through him as he finally held the woman he was falling for and knowing she was safe. "I'm here and I've got you; you're safe," he reassured her but then heard the sirens getting closer, "Vala, we need to get out of here before more show up and I need to get you to Dr. Lam."
She nodded her agreement and Daniel was swift to pick her up bridal style and carry her to the awaiting car. They drove silence for most of the way. Daniel wanted to give her sometime to regain some of her memories of him. The fact that she was letting him hold onto her was a good sign. There was no fucking way he'd let go of her until they were safe inside the mountain. About halfway to the base, the baby kicked where Daniel's hand rested on Vala's stomach. He smiled at the feel of it, but soon turned to worry as he remembered that Sam had told him she'd be in an accident.
"Are you okay?" he asked quietly, "Is she okay? Are you in any pain or discomfort?"
"No, I think I'm okay," she responded honestly, "I think I'm more frightened and confused."
"Don't be scared; I've got you and nothing's going to happen to either of you again."
"Athena is still out there, Daniel."
"Not for long," he promised, and he would see to that. Though she was a powerful woman, they could make her disappear without too much trouble or with people questioning it.
Vala believed him and didn't have any doubt that he'd see to it.
Carolyn had given her clean bill of health and by the next morning, her memories had mostly come back, all the important ones that is.
The men from the warehouse had been taken into custody had been made to talk by Teal'c again and Charlotte Mason had tragically died in her private jet when it crashed three days later, the plane having no survivors. In reality, the symbiote was removed by the Tok'ra and the host had chosen to remain with the Tok'ra since they seemed to be the best suited people to help the new ex host cope with centuries of being a host.
Vala and Daniel returned to their life as normally as possible, though Daniel vowed to never leave her alone again, something that Vala would eventually make him break, but for now, she was okay with it since he seemed to need it. He would eventually loosen up and begin to feel that she was safe once again, but up until the birth of their daughter, he or someone he knew and trusted were always with her.
o0o
Author's Note: I seriously debated whether or not I wanted to post this chapter. For those of you who've ready Defining Moments know there was a similar plot and I could've easily stretched this out another chapter or two but I wanted this story to be unique on it's own, so I breezed through it. I think I needed to get the Athena threat out of the way for the most part, hence why I did end up posting it.
As you probably recognized, a lot of the conversations/words were from the script, though I may have switched a few characters' role and such - like Jack talking to Daniel instead of Mitchell and Sam going after Vala instead of Mitchell (I mean, come on, Sam and her motorcycle people!). But still, not my words, though I tweaked a few, and can take no credit whatsoever.
Thoughts? Should I expand or delete it altogether? Thoughts from those who have read Defining Moments?
