Bring it all Back

Chapter 23

Two Daniels (Again)

They're finally doing something with the time controlling chicken foot.

It's been sitting in the Jacksons' lab for months—they still share a lab and are adamant to do as little work as possible in there together. He's tried having them on separate shifts but whichever one gets the night shift—despite them both only sleeping about four hours each a night—complains that it isn't fair. Then he tried having them in different areas, not as far as Atlantis, but separating them and sticking them on different teams, which had the illusion of being a good idea until both Jacksons backed out at the last second.

Then he issued an ultimatum, either work together in the lab or he would rotate them on shifts whether they like it or not. For the last few days they've been plugging away and today they finally got to the chicken foot.

He wishes they never did.

He's training with Teal'c when it happens. Smacking away at him in their fake sparring session. Sometimes they use weapons, but today they're both too tired, Teal'c finally getting back in from the Cyclone Planet where they still treat him like crap.

And last night he got into a fight with Vala.

Another fight that ended up encompassing all their previous fights; why couldn't she be more vocal with her feelings, why couldn't he be less protective, why after almost six years did she still need to be signed out of the mountain. Then she questioned why new SG members were making more money than her, she broke into the accounting office after hours to check or hacked the system she never really clarified. When he replied it didn't matter because he would take care of her, she exploded fingers curling and saying nothing, just marching out of her own room.

Against his better judgement, he drove home, honestly the fight was exhausting physically and emotionally and maybe a little time apart would do them well. Except she didn't feel the same way because she's stuck on the base. So when phoned him up at his house to argue with him more, she sort of broke down at the end. Again, against his better judgement, he stayed and slept the night at home and he hasn't seen her all day. No one has, assumes she's hiding away in the lab under the pretense of helping the Jacksons.

Teal'c manages to land a boxing gloved punch to the side of his face and he stumbles back two steps. "Colonel Mitchell, you appear distracted. Do you which to borrow my outer auditory organ?"

"God, no." Holds his hand out as Teal'c takes a step closer, keeping him at bay a bit. "Just a lot of things on my mind Big Guy."

"Is this about stargate team seven speaking badly of you?"

"It's just hard being the boss some—what?"

"Then is it the Dr Daniel Jacksons?"

"No go back to SG-7."

"Well, Major Dumas is returning to as team leader and his words when you're concerned are less than—"

The reverberations of an explosion shake through the room, rattle the various weapons hanging from the wall. Might be anything, an outside attack, an inside attack, an earthquake. They jog to the door and follow the flow of soldiers until running into familiar face.

"Rodriguez, any idea what's going on?"

"That dude's lab—"

Groans into his hand and makes a mental note to add proper military addressing to Rodriguez's training package for next week. "What 'dude's lab? There's like eighty dudes and three dudettes."

"The one who has like another one of him."

"The Jacksons." It makes sense. They were probably running the artifact under tests like Sam would've done if she wasn't still running Atlantis or Lee would if he hadn't extended his leave because he and his wife got food poisoning on their date night.

"You want me to help out? I could—"

"Go to your station, find your team leader and do what they say." Turns down the next corridor that appears, running in the direction of the lab.

The corridor is already sectioned off when they get there. Medical hasn't arrived yet, but the ventilation units are off so the hallway is smoky as hell. He nods to the guard and passes through the yellow tape, Teal'c following him, and tries not to breathe in too heavily. Should probably start to shout for the Jacksons, but with the blast consuming the lab they wouldn't hear him anyway.

Expects to find the white doors shut with charred stains and smoke slowly draining from the lab, and the Jacksons blaming each other in the hallway. Instead the doors are blown clean off, black smoke billowing freely into the hallway and unbalanced shuffling coming from within.

"Jacksons?" Stands even with the wall and yells through the open door, whatever caused the explosion could easily cause a second one especially if they're rooting around in there for a certain chicken foot.

A head pops up, but it's not a Jackson. "Cameron," she beckons him into the charred innards of the lab that is still on fire. "Come help me look for them."

"Vala, get the hell out of there." Shouts back, then turns away from the door, when he catches Teal'c's eyes.

"No." Despite disagreeing she plucks her way through the debris closer to the doorway. She's covered in soot and has a cut freely bleeding from her temple. "If they're down there then I need—"

"You need to get out of the goddamn room now. You're breaking protocol, you're in an active explosion site."

"I need to find them, Cameron." She's yelling because she can't hear and she's crying out of misunderstanding, out of confusion like she was on the phone last night. The tears leave clean tracks on her sooty cheeks. "Why won't you help me find them?"

"Because we have soldiers trained to do that."

"You don't need special training to—" She circles closer to the door and he's got his chance. Reaches out yanking her through the doorway by the collar of her shirt as she shouts in surprise then in protest.

Spins her away from the doorway, as the search and rescue team arrives and without a breath head into the lab with face gear, fire retardant uniforms, and oxygen tanks. But she fights at him, claws at his shirt until he grabs both her wrists. When he tries to calm her with coos and convince her the rescue team is better suited for the job she only fights more, bucks against him, trying to knee her way out.

"Hey. Hey." Shakes her hard enough to get her attention, hard enough to get Teal'c's, who he's fully aware is watching him and waiting in the wings. "There's a goddamn rescue team Vala, you need medical, just settle down and let everyone do their job." The chastising doesn't work, it rarely does unless, ironically, it's from one of the Jacksons. She fights against him more and he's done. Steps back from her, releases her arms. "Fine. You really want to go back in there to look for them? Go for it."

Her eyes tear over, not the confusion tears, not from misunderstanding or fear or even anger directed at him. He's only seen her look like this once, when he yelled at her about Daniel once, when he told her how much it hurts to see any team member sacrifice themselves, but he held her steady and made her listen to his harsh words and her eyes danced with tears because she was so disappointed in him.

"Wouldn't you go back for me?"

"I want this corridor fully blocked off, no one within thirty feet of the lab. Someone light a fire under medical's ass and get them down here." Doesn't answer her because she should know, and he should too really. Forgets how close her and the Jacksons are, they're probably the closest thing she has to a best friend. They rib each other, but half the time he catches her in their lab everyone is laughing. He stares directly at her and sidesteps the answer. "Teal'c do not let her go back into that lab."

They don't find the Jacksons. They don't find the chicken foot. They don't find a whole hell of a lot aside from all the mints on Vala's desk melded into one giant candy, and a charred picture of the Jacksons' wife.

He sits at his desk with his head in his hands. Called Sam to let her know that the Jacksons were missing, that they were presumed dead but there was no evidence of bodies among the fire. Tried calling Vala's room phone but he got no answer and he didn't want to be so hard on her earlier, but she doesn't listen. She always cares for everyone else, and throws herself in front of the bullet, or down the supergate, or runs to the dragon, or blasts her gun to draw attention away.

"Colonel Mitchell." Teal'c stands in his doorway, his arms clasped tightly behind his back.

"Hey Teal'c," it's muffled as he washes a hand over his face, he's still collecting bits of grime and ash from being near the lab.

"The rescue team are finished their preliminary examination of the lab and have discovered no remnant of nuclear radiation." Teal'c takes a few steps inside, stopping beside one of the chairs angled towards his desk but doesn't sit down. "They still have not found a trace of either Dr. Daniel Jackson."

"Well that's good in a way, it means that they could've gotten out of there and gone—somewhere else." Drops his pen and rubs his head against because he's getting one hell of a headache. No food, not too much water, trying to contact the right people to deal with the incident. Informing Landry in Washington who's sending O'Neill back to help sort shit out. Telling Sam in the most fake hopeful voice he's ever used.

"Indeed."

"Any secondary injuries?"

As if Teal'c can read between the lines he gives out the information. "Vala Mal Doran received sterile strips for the contusion on her head. Dr. Lam also checked her lung capacity which was normal."

Stands from his desk, clicking the light off. "Well that's good."

"She is unwell, Colonel Mitchell."

He stops in his tracks hand still on the jacket draped over the back of his chair. "Unwell how?"

"She is not talking. She is not eating. She simply exists."

"She's in shock?"

Teal'c nods his head once and he expects the somber smile, but it doesn't come. "I believe you actions earlier exacerbated the situation."

"Teal'c I had to clear the field. You know—"

"While I understand protocol and would have done the same to draw Vala Mal Doran from within the lab, I would have used a gentler technique." The words are emotionless, but he can sense the blame. "If both Dr. Daniel Jacksons have perished, she has lost her family." Teal'c pauses until he looks him in the eye and adds, "we all have."

He checks her room, but when the doors slide open, the light from the hall revels only an empty room. There's dishes on her side table from the dinner she ate alone last night, and a few balled tissues on the floor and he never really pictured her side of the argument in such a clear way but the half-eaten cherry pie gives him a bad aftertaste. Her pajamas, yoga pants and a silky tank top, are laid out on her bed for quick access. Wanted the day over before it even got worse.

Locks the door behind him and maybe he should try the cafeteria. She might be picking at a fresher piece of pie, but Teal'c had said she didn't want to eat, and he's never known Vala to turn down food.

Runs by the med bay just in time to catch the shift switch for on-call doctors. Lam stands at the main station, rambling out file info to Rix who is still sipping on a coffee and waking up for her graveyard shift. When they notice him, they stop talking.

"Sorry Docs, didn't mean to intrude, I just needed to know if anyone is in critical condition from the blast." He hangs by the door and lets his question drift through the space between them. Really wants to know about Vala, but secret relationships don't stand up to a hypocritical oath.

"Just some people burned, a few bruises, some needed stiches." She hands Rix the final chart but turns back to him. "Did they find either Daniel yet?"

He shakes his head but can't leave them on a down note. "Rescue said there was no signs of their bodies, charred or uncharred which bodes well for Sam's 'other dimension' theory."

They accept it at his word, neither want to challenge him or the weird shit he has to deal with, just like how when Lam says someone's got to be put in a coma for a few days, he doesn't give a second opinion.

He knew where she would be. Knew it this entire time, but really didn't want to have to go there, because he's not supposed to be there, and she's definitely not supposed to be there. He strolls by the lab crime scene and the guard gives him a curtesy nod.

"Mind if I borrow your flashlight real quick, private?"

The private unclips the light from his belt arsenal and reaches to hand it to him, pausing briefly. "Mind if I ask why, Sir?"

"Just scoping the area for any alien space pirates who might be breaking protocol again." Scans the lights over remnants of ancient artifacts, over the large closet still locked and face down on the sooty ground, over both the metal tables that have actually melted from the force.

But there's no sign or sound of Vala.

With an exhale, he hands the light back to the private. The Jacksons disappeared in the lab. Was Vala in the lab at the time of the explosion, or just nearing it? Soldiers and staff who were in the hallway and in adjacent rooms needed medical attention, and she had that cut on her head. So how close was she? Is she in danger of disappearing too?

He's exhausted and wants nothing more than to drive home to his bed, put on the Late Night show and fall asleep with a beer, but that's not how he works anymore. He left her last night because he thought it was for the best. Now she's lost not one but two Jacksons, and Teal'c said it was like losing family.

He knows where she is.

Since the Jacksons are a regular part of his team again, his pass works on the door. Any place he might need to get into, like labs or dorms, he's allowed full access too. They don't know about it, and it makes him feel like a bit of a creep.

But she's there, sitting on Daniel One's bed. Not on the edge or the end, not cross-legged, but with her back up against his pillows and her legs stretched out before her, her bare feet pointing upwards and anything but relaxed. If she notices him come in she doesn't respond, just keeps staring at something, which he assumes is Daniel's television, but there is no TV, she's just staring off into space.

He remembers how he was when he lost her.

When he lost her over and over again for months on end, and he told himself tomorrow would be a do-over, but then feared what if that day was the final day. What if she was undone forever. The pain welled in his head, behind his eyes and every time a tear slid out it felt like fire and did nothing to fix the way he was feeling. Eventually his nose stuffed up and he started breathing through his mouth which lead to sobbing, which lead to exhaustion as he wept over her bullet riddled body again and again and again.

She's at the exhaustion stage, he can tell. She doesn't make a move as he approaches and her big blue eyes aren't shiny with tears or dancing in the low glow of the bedside light. They're dull and dark and red as hell, it looks like she has hay fever, her nose all red and wet. Her lips cracked just a bit as she breathes through her mouth because the sobbing has clogged her up.

"Hi honey," greets her the same way he usually does, maybe the normalcy will snap her out, but her eyes stare straight ahead. When he pushes himself into her line of vision, she doesn't focus on him. Her eyes get duller, she travels further away. "Vala?"

What should he say after this happened on the coattails of both of them treating the other like crap. Would he even want to be comforted by her if the tables were turned? Knows he would, but she works differently. Despite the anchors she's casted out in the last few years, when she feels vulnerable she doesn't run to Teal'c or Sam or a Daniel or him. She tries to deal with it herself. Tries to subvert it herself and end up sacrificed in the mean time.

So he does what she needs him to do. To sit on the edge of the bed, none of his body touching hers and wait until she has something to say to him, wait until she's ready for that human interaction again.

Two hours pass with only blinking and breathing. His thigh is killing him and his knuckles kneading down on the muscles is what breaks her, what brings her attention back.

"You don't need to be here." Her stance is exactly the same, legs and arms unmoving, but her eyes have cycled to him.

"You don't either." The angle of him talking to her burns through the muscles in his lower back. "The Jacksons aren't dead. They'll be back."

"I know." Not a gloat, or said with sass, just a sigh from her mouth. Her skin is still mottled with soot that she barely washed off. Her temple as a stark white bandage sticking to it and it contrasts with everything in the room. "I'm waiting for a sign."

"How do you know I'm not the sign?"

"Because you can leave now." Her lips press than part, like she wants to explain something to him, but doesn't have the strength or patience or—"Please leave."

Wants to tell her that he never should have left her yesterday, that they should've talked like adults about this secret, very adult relationship. How his home doesn't feel like home unless she's there, and how he likes going to the flea market with her on Sunday mornings because she picks out the weirdest crap for decorating the extra room and he loves it.

He loves her.

But it's not time to go into a monologue about their relationship, or how when he's away from her he feels different and a little incomplete. It's about her, and her two best friends disappearing in a horrible explosion and how she's going to have to live with that hole in her life for the next prolonged period.

Vala has many qualities, some good, some not, but for those she cares about, for those she loves, she is unquestionably loyal.

Leaves her in Daniels One's dorm and wonders if she ever switched between the two rooms. Thinks about going back to her room in case she does for the night, but he knows that's a far stretch, that she's most likely going to pass out on Jackson's bed and wake up when he goes to find her tomorrow morning.

So he retires to his own bedroom, shucks his clothing and crawls under the covers of his bed, his mind still circling stories of where the Jacksons could've made it off to and what it has to do with a gross time controlling chicken foot.

On the third day he starts to wonder if she's ever coming out of the dorm. He hasn't tried talking to her again because he doesn't know how she's grieves, he's never seen her grieve, doesn't think anyone has. Even after Adria died, there was really no time for her to grieve before they went on board the Odyssey. She was all grins and jokes and prodding Daniel.

"Have you talked with Vala at all?" Sits across from Teal'c who doesn't play footsie with him or remind him of the good ol' high school days.

"I have not seen Vala Mal Doran since briefly after the laboratory detonated."

"Should I go talk to her?" Pushes around the leftover cherry pie on his plate like it would draw her out from the woodwork.

Teal'c eyes dart up from where he steeps his teabag. "I do not think she would appreciate that at this time."

"Then why don't you go?"

"Because she has not asked me to."

Fights wanting to go home, wanting to get off the base, wanting to see the moon and stars—not up close, wanting to see the sunrise and breathe natural air. Being cooped up in the base for this many days in a row, especially when there are no off-world missions giving an escape, is almost torture.

He went home without her the one night and this is the way she felt.

Stir crazy staring at the same reinforced wall corridors, while time dragged and nothing got lighter or darker with the trail of the sun. He went home without her, and he didn't take her with him because he wanted to prove a point—no that's not it either.

The Late Show title card flashes on his tv, and he sets what is technically a contraband beer on his side table. Has no idea who the guest is because it's some snotty kid and falls asleep halfway through the opening monologue.

Wakes hours later to an infomercial flashing across his screen, but that's not what woke him. All of them, all of SG-1 sleep featherlight as in the drop of a feather in the wind could rouse and ready them.

What he felt was her weight indent the other side of the bed.

She's not laying down, she sits with her back to him, her hair half up half down, falling out of the updo she had it in the last time he saw her. She's still wearing the same clothes, and it smells more like she's been on a three-day mission.

Doesn't speak first because he's afraid anything he says will just send her off, she'll disappear back into a Jacksons' dorm and never come back out. Tries not to draw attention to himself, to stare at her because she can sense it, to breath too harsh or deep and alert her he's awake just in case she says something she would only say to him when he's asleep.

"They sent me away." When she does speak, dyed blue like a ghost in the semidarkness only highlighted by infomercials, her voice almost doesn't exist, it's crusty and rasping and cried out.

"Who? Who sent you away?" Builds himself back up in the bed, his bare back leaning against the backboard.

"The Daniels." He just wants her to look at him, to let him comfort her, to take her off this base where she won't have to submerge herself in the accident or the blame. "They both demanded coffee of me, not in the usual way, frantic almost. They got me out of the lab so I wouldn't be injured."

"They care about you, Vala." So close to just reaching a hand to her back, but Teal'c told him to wait, if she wanted to be comforted, she would come to him. "They're coming back."

"We were fighting."

"Who? You and the Jacksons?"

"No." Her head angles slightly towards him. "You and I."

"Yeah." The confidence in his voice is misplaced, it falters on his second pass. "Yeah, we were."

"I don't remember about what." She turns, her arm supporting her body, her thigh balancing her, and her face is so despondent. The late time he saw her she held no emotion at all, and now her eyes have given up and he wants to cry for her. "It must not have been important."

"Tell me what you need me to do." Sits up, his arms resting on his knees, his hands, his fingers twitching to bridge the gap between them. "How can I make it better." Doesn't mean about the fight, but he kind of does. Doesn't mean about abandoning her to go mad seven storeys underground, but a little bit so. Means about her loss, the emptiness she's experiencing.

Answer him with a shrug and a roll of her lower lip, tucks it inward like she might burst again at any moment even though she's damn near out of tears. "However you want to." Flat palm presses into the buoyant mattress inches from him. "Nobody's ever cared if I was grieving before."

It's not permission, but it's permission enough. His hand covers hers and it's like touching snow. Soft and cold and a little bit wet from sweat or tears. Tugs a bit, more like directs, and she lets him guide her across the bed to him. She angles her head against his shoulder, gazing up at him in the darkness, as he strokes her arm. "We're going to get them back."

"Please don't make promises, darling. I can't hold you to them."

And he knows why he left her here almost a week ago to suffer in silence. Why he removed her from the gift of the moon and the stars and the sun over a few harsh words they both growled at each other.

It was because he wanted to hurt her.

Wanted her to hurt the way she did when she said the words she did out of defense.

"We're going to get them back."

"It's too much food."

She refuses to leave the base, even for a late-night jeep ride down the street for some McDonald's breakfast, or for a stroll to the family park a few blocks away. Won't leave in case the Jacksons decide to rematerialize and he's tried to use the logic of 'maybe they'll rematerialize outside somewhere'. But her guilt is stronger than his, she can hold a grudge against herself unrivaled even by the Jacksons after she's destroyed countless artifacts and stolen most of their credit cards.

"Just the pie then." Pushes the crumbly crust cherry pie towards her, à la mode of course, and her eyes light up for the first time in a week. "It's the breakfast of champions."

After sleeping beside him for almost six hours, and then alone in his bed for four, when he came to check on her, her stomach growl was loud enough to interrupt him. Managed to coerce her into a shower while he grabbed her a meal. Grabbed fruits and pizza and mac and cheese and of course the pie.

She sits cross-legged in the middle of his unmade bed, bare legs peeking out from underneath one of his hoodies. All she left in his room was a pair of shorts from the summer because she's worn most of the clothes she left back to her own room. He'll have to grab her some before she can leave.

With a bittersweet expression she takes the first bite of pie, and hums like most other times she eats cherry pie. It could be the worst cherry pie on Earth or it could be his momma's cherry pie and her reaction is always the same.

Cups a hand over her knee and pulls himself onto the bed beside her as she takes the second bite. The tv is on the Cartoon Network and the colors flash brightly across the room overpowering the weak bedside table lamp.

"How are you feeling?"

"Full," answers with pie crumbs littering her lips. The ice cream is melting all over the plate and her toes keep curling behind him.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Takes her fourth and final bite leaving the crust as she always does, cheeks puffed out with food like a squirrel readying for winter. "About what?"

Smacks him in the shoulder and points to the bottle of water on the bedside table that he obediently grabs and hands back to her. "Anything?"

"Do you want me to talk, or do you want me to eat?" She unscrews the cap and drains the bottle in seconds. "Because I can't do both."

"I thought you were done eating?" Sets the bottle back on the bedside table beside the cold, now nearing, stale, rest of the food.

"I am."

"Then you can—"

"I don't want to do anything."

"Okay." His hand on his thigh, a dull ache from running around the mountain today trying to get things cleared up, ahe dusts off the few crumbs of pie she manages to decorate him with. "I have to—"

"I lied." She smooths out the mattress sheet and pats it once. "I want you to sit with me."

"Vala, it's the middle of my shift, I'm supposed to be—"

"Not for long. I just—please?"

"Honey." Somehow her eyes manage to glass over again, maybe with emotion because he's pretty sure that bottle of water didn't refill her tear stock, and he left her last time because he wanted to hurt her. Knew that the words, that she's heard millions of words in multiple languages meant to hurt her and they barely ever do, but abandonment, well abandonment is always a great way to make anyone feel like shit. "Yeah. Okay."

Crawls onto the bed beside her, letting her arm slip through his, making sure not to ruffle his Air Force fatigues too much. "Only for a moment I promise."

"It's fine." His opposite hand, the one not snagged by her, covers her cheek and he presses a kiss onto her forehead and feels her grin tug against his hand. "I've got the time."

By the end of the week Lam's cleared her for going out on missions and the psych doc who never sees her for more than fifteen minutes just gives him a thumbs up at the door. But he knows she's not doing much better, that she's at the phase where she's putting on a strong face for everyone else because she doesn't want the pity, and she doesn't want them in her business.

She's trying to do it with him too. He walked into her room yesterday and she quickly composed herself with a sniffle, smashed a hand into her eyes to clear the tears, bounced up from the bed hiding a ball of tissues behind her back, and smiled misty at him. Told her to stop, while he hugged her and felt her body relax into more sniffing, to cry of she wanted to while he retrieved the tissue ball from her hand and tossed it into the trash can.

But the thing is, they're down a man, down two of the same man and with her out of commission it was three men, but she's too strong to say she needs to stay out and he's too involved with her to be able to make a clear decision about if it's appropriate for him to intercept or if it's fine because he can foresee them getting into some shit with her only at half attention while the other half silently sobs away behind a blank expression.

The planet they end up on is militaristic and sort of smashed all his views about the United States military being strict. The city they visit is a regular police state with martial law, officers on every corner, one in every store, they won't answer questions and if you talk too much they write tickets.

Vala ends up with five by the end of the night

There also happens to be a forced curfew that no one bothered to tell them about.

So when they walk out of a pub, intent on making their way back to meet up with Dumas and his boys at the gate an officer pops out at the end of the block, armed and with a nonplussed expression. "Curfews been in affect for a quarter now."

Before he can think of what to say, she's off talking again, keen on getting ticket number six before they hightail it and blackgate the planet for her so she never has to pay. The universe isn't as big as it used to be. "Yes, we're terribly sorry, see we're not from your planet and—"

The officer aims his gun at her, and the words die in her mouth. He rearranges their bodies, so he's sticking out, so he gets the gun. "We were just heading to the gate."

"No gate use after sundown." At least the guard answers him, the gun faltering a bit.

"We're really sorry, we're not from here, we're from Earth and we just want to go—"

"Empty your pockets." Both their faces sort of crunch because they have a lot of pockets and because they're not really carrying anything of much use. But the gun hikes when the officer's eyebrows falter and he somehow aims at her again. "Empty your pockets."

"Yeah sure." Then for ten minutes they pull out all sorts of crap. She's got lip gloss and hair pins and credits and coinage, just dumped into a pile on the streets as the officer shines a light and kicks through their stuff.

Then he comes to her five 'monologue' citations and his jaw sets. "You were supposed to pay these fines an hour ago."

"I'm sorry I didn't—"

"We really are sorry. We're happy to—"

But he yanks her forward, and she's about to protest, she needs that sixth citation that bad, but the barrel of his gun jamming into the back of her head drowns her protests into a little squeak.

"Hey. Hey." His hands raise defenseless, and he steps towards her only for the officer to shove the gun harder at the back of her head.

Normally, he would talk to the guy, distract him so Vala could step on his foot and then knee him in the crotch or something, but they're both out of it. She's not all there and he's panicking because it's her. Why didn't they bring Rodriguez along? How the hell did Dumas skip all this?

"Barring code A47/D29—"

"We didn't know, okay?" Stares at her, trying to keep his voice calm. She falls silent, her eyes wide and expression blank again for another reason.

The officer clamps one hand around the back of her neck to keep her from fidgeting. "—it is within my legal jurisdiction to withhold the law—"

"Look we'll pay the fine."

"—the appropriate method is extermination." The gun clicks into place and she closes her eyes.

And he loses his shit.

Hand on his sidearm, which is completely legal to carry, so quick that the weapon is an extension of himself. Then he fires on the officer, who stands at least half a foot taller than her, hitting him in the forehead.

Later, part of him will feel remorseful, will feel guilty because that man probably had a spouse and children, but it escalated to quickly, and he didn't see any other options between him panicking and her panicking.

The officer topples over like a chopped tree. He grabs her hand, and yanks her to him, arms enveloping her as her body shakes against his. "Are you okay?"

"Yes."

Pulls her back and bows to look directly into her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, darling." It's a lie because that night she wakes up drenched in sweat and unsure of where she is. After a few minutes he's able to ease her out of her confusion and back to the bed beside him.

All the crap from their pockets is left on the street, except for a gem she intentionally stoops to pick up. When he quirks an eyebrow at her because they are on a timeframe here, and he does not want to find out what the punishment for murder of an officer is, the corners of her mouth tug down. "The Daniels gave it to be before, well, you know."

He does.

He came so close to it happening again.

Doesn't say a word, just grabs her hand and takes off towards the gate. Dumas stands waiting, taps his watchless wrist as they approach, and enters in the coordinates home. They're still huffing when the Major and his boys walk on through.

He lets go of her hand just before they enter.

On the other side of the gate he knows they have to act differently, keep their hands to themselves, but they pant in unison and he's already seeing replays of her face, her wide-eyed stare of horror while he stuttered words.

Already sees the bullet in slow motion ram through that guys head.

What he doesn't see are the two bodies that accompany them through the portal until he hears someone clear their throat behind him and he thinks maybe someone saw what he did, has come to arrest him, and his hand falls to his sidearm again.

Only that's not it at all.

It's what he'd entirely forgotten about.

The Jacksons stand behind them at the bottom of the ramp, looking as well as ever, in the same clothes they were blown away in. Daniel Two drops his hand to Vala's shoulder and she jumps. "Jeez, what happened to you?"

Then her eyes twinkle, not cherry pie twinkle, or the way they twinkle when he surprises her with a gift but go full kid on Christmas Day with awe. She clasps her arm around the Daniel Two and when Daniel One tries to sneak away, she grabs his black shirt yanking him into the hug as well. She laughs and she cries while they pat her back in a stiff placation and when they try to worm away she holds on with a death grip.

"Where were you my darlings?" Almost has them both in a headlock and they look to him for help but he crosses his arms, she's earned this. "What took you?"

"More like what took you so long?" Daniel One pries her arm from around his neck and then dusts off his shoulders.

"Whatever do you mean?"

Daniel Two waits a bit and might be a little more into the hug, but then pats her back three times and she lets him go. He pulls off his smudged glasses and uses the bottom of his shirt to clean them. "What took you so long to go through the gate?"

"You—you left and I—"

"She grieved."

"Oh." Daniel One sort of shrugs it off.

"That's an understatement."

"Oh." Daniel Two nods, understanding, and reaches his empty palm out to her. "Where's the crystal."

Twists her mouth around as she fishes through her BDUs for the only think she saved off the ground. When she yanks it out it's not orange anymore but white. "Is this what brought you back?"

"Yep."

"We had to get rid of the four-prone time device—"

"The chicken foot."

"Yes, Mitchell." Daniel Two sneers, "the chicken foot."

"Anywho," Daniel One presses between them, hands in his pocket and sort of shuffling. "We charged it to explode, but knew we'd be caught up in a temporal limbo—"

"—so we placed a temporal reversal—"

"A what?"

"A get out of jail free card for the 4th dimension basically."

"But it could only be activated by a big power source—"

"—and since we should be using the gate everyday it shouldn't take long." Daniel Two glares at Vala but she swings her arms around him.

Then lets him go and smashes a hug into Daniel One, then re-snatches Daniel Two until she's got them both in the headlock again and he can hear her purr. "I missed you boys dearly."

The Jacksons turn to him again for guidance or a way out, but he does nothing, just shakes his head because when he hugs her like that later, he knows she's going to hug back the same way.

Daniel One releases a sigh of surrender into her shoulder and pats one side of her back while Daniel Two pats the other. "Well it's always nice to be missed."