Chapter 3
Vala tried to go to bed early, hoping sleep deprivation might be the cause of her ailment, whatever it was, but she couldn't get the two incidents out of her head. The first, while frustrating and stimulating at the same time, was at least straight-forward, and without the headache, she could have chalked it up to her own fantasies. But the second still had her confused. She felt like she was on the verge of remembering something, but couldn't figure out just what exactly. She knew something had happened in the room she saw herself exiting, but whatever it was evaded her. Yet, somehow, she had a strong feeling that the person she had been waving to had been Daniel.
Her first suspicion was that she had had sex with Daniel in that . . . memory, fantasy, whatever it was. It made sense. She was exiting a room with wild hair, pulling her shirt down over her body with a big smile on her face. What else could it be? But if this were a fantasy that her own mind had created, wouldn't she have just imagined the actual sex? Certainly, that would be more interesting! And much more straightforward! So what the hell was going on?
Seeing Daniel the next day was even more awkward than she'd expected it to be. She was already dreading being reminded of her visions, but Daniel was being nicer than he normally was, trying to make sure she was doing better. Of course, Mitchell had told him about the incident in the evening, too, so both of them were acting like mother hens.
SG1 had a briefing that morning to discuss a mission they would be embarking on later that day. It wasn't unusual for Vala to pay little attention during these meetings, but her head was in an entirely different place for this one.
When the briefing was over, she did her best to escape the room before anyone else could catch her, but she should have known better. She had barely gotten out the door before Daniel caught her by the arm. "What's the hurry?" he asked her. "Mitchell told me your headache got worse last night. I wanted to make sure you're okay."
She gave him a small smile. "I'm fine, Daniel, really. Haven't had a headache all morning."
"Are you sure? Because you're still acting kind of . . . weird."
"Okay, look. The truth is, I'm not used to people fussing over me like this. You, Mitchell, you're both all over me! It's not that I don't appreciate it; I do. I just . . . I'd like some space. I promise; I'm fine."
Daniel gave her a look that told her he didn't quite believe her. "I guess that makes sense," he said slowly. "Sometimes I forget that you were on your own for a pretty long time. Just . . . tell us if we have to worry, okay?"
"Of course!" she grinned. "If I need you, I'll let you know."
Daniel nodded at her and let her go. She breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't sure why she was so keen on keeping this to herself, but whatever the reason, she wasn't ready to tell the others about whatever the hell was happening to her.