Get ready for a nice little plot twist! -innocent grin-
Company Is True
"It's itchy." Hayden whined, kicking her foot against her seat.
Grey eyes turned on her from the passenger seat. "Don't touch."
The little girl glared at her mother. "Mommy!"
Vala pointed a finger at her. "Ah! Do not touch it... It's starting to heal, which is why it's itching."
Pouting, Hayden turned her gaze out the window. It only took a minute before she whined and slapped her hand anxiously on the seat beside her. "Mommy..."
"You can't scratch it, baby." Vala said sympathetically. "It will only make things worse." She looked at Daniel in the driver's seat as her daughter whined again. "A little help here?"
When he did nothing but continue to stare out at the road, Vala leaned over and tapped his shoulder.
Daniel breathed in deeply and looked at her. "Huh?"
She gave him a slightly concerned look. "Hayds is complaining."
Blue eyes flicked to the rearview mirror, catching Hayden's gaze in the reflection. She pleaded to him with her eyes, bouncing where she sat. Daniel shook his head. "No, Hayden."
"Wow, that was...amazing." Vala muttered sarcastically as Hayden continued to whine and fidget. Her grey eyes stared intently at him. "What's up with you?"
He looked at her a moment. "It's..." He shook his head, returning his gaze to the road. "It's nothing."
Vala reached out and lightly ran her finger over the hair behind his ear. "Daniel."
Sighing, he gave her another quick look. "I'm nervous."
She swallowed thickly at the admission. "Why?"
Daniel heard the anxiety in her tone and glanced at her. He offered a reassuring smile, though it faltered a fraction. "It's not you...It's definitely not you." Blue eyes found the road again. "The fact that I have to admit to lying for nearly two months to my best friend, which is all my own doing, is what's making me nervous."
"I'm sure he'll understand." Vala offered.
He laughed sarcastically. "You don't know Jack O'Neill - trust is a very, very important to him, especially in my case."
Vala frowned at the troubled frown that creased Daniel's features. It was filled with a pain that ran too deep to be just due to his relationship with her. It piqued her curiosity, but she clamped down on questioning him instantly. The last thing she needed was to interrogate him when he was so uptight.
"We're here." Daniel announced suddenly, turning his truck onto a driveway for a house that made hers look like a motel room. Not that her house was very big to begin with. Still...
"Holy crap!" Vala gawked at the two story 'American dreamhouse.'
Hayden blinked at the size of it. "That's a big house, mommy."
Vala nodded, taking in all of it. "This house..." She looked from the large wooden front door, to the giant windows that branched out on both sides from the entryway. Her gaze drifted upward to the second story, then to the roof. "I mean, I thought Cam and Carolyn had a big house-"
"They do have a big house." Daniel laughed gently, the girls reactions having brought him out of his funk for a moment. "And so do Jack and Sam." He shifted into park and turned the ignition to off. "They've put a lot of hard work into this house."
She nodded. "It shows." Vala looked at Daniel suddenly. "God, are they rich? Did I under dress for this barbeque thing? Can Hayden be here?"
Reaching out to take her hand, Daniel placed his other on her cheek. "Hey, relax." He waited until Vala took a deep breath and focused on him clearly. "No, they're not rich. They are just a normal, loving family like Cam and Carolyn. That said, you look fine and Hayden is more than allowed to be here." He looked back at the little girl. "Charlie will be happy to have someone to play with today."
"Charlie's your... godson, right?" Hayden asked curiously, struggling with the word as her finger poked the healing scab on her face.
Daniel reached back and pulled her hand away. "Yes, he's six and very sweet."
Leaning towards him, Vala whispered in his ear. "Of course you're not a five year old girl - he's got cooties."
To confirm the point, Hayden nodded and pulled her hand out of Daniel's. He looked back and forth between them, smirking after a moment.
"I guess I've still got a lot to learn, huh?"
Vala nodded and kissed him affectionately. "We're willing to keep you anyway."
Daniel smiled, his gaze drifting out of the car. The smile turned to a grin, and he quickly unclipped his seatbelt and jumped out of the truck. Leaving the door open, he made his way around the vehicle and a short way up the walk just in time to swoop a laughing little boy into his arms.
Slowly, Vala managed to help Hayden out of her seat and get her own belt undone while watching the exchange.
"Hey, kiddo!" Daniel grinned, hugging Charlie close to him.
The boy hugged back eagerly. "Uncle Danny... I haven't seen you in forever."
Daniel laughed and pulled back a little. "It was just two days ago, silly."
"That's forever!" Charlie corrected with a slight scowl that was very reminiscent of his father's. It quickly faded as young brown eyes drifted to the two people getting out of the truck. He pointed at them. "Who are they?"
"I was wondering the same thing..." A female voice said playfully. Daniel turned slightly to see past Charlie, finding Sam walking up to them. She reached out and took the boy from him. "Hey Daniel."
He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Hey Sam." Daniel turned back to face Vala and Hayden standing nervously by the passenger door. He walked up to stand next to them. "This is Vala Malduran and her daughter, Hayden Johnson." He smiled at Vala and Hayden. "Guys, this is Sam and Charlie O'Neill."
Sam gave a friendly smile to the two. "It's nice to finally meet you two." She winked at Daniel. "I would say he's talked nonstop about you guys, but we haven't seen enough of him lately..."
"She's definitely not lying." A gruff voice had all of them turning their attention up the walkway. "I'm wondering if he's even coming home at night anymore."
Rolling his eyes, Daniel leaned into Vala. "That's Jack."
Jack wrapped his arm around Sam's waist. "Oh, that's all I get? 'That's Jack'?" He smiled at Vala and Hayden. "Hello ladies." Brown eyes found blue once more. "Daniel, you failed to mention you were bringing company."
Daniel ignored the surprised look Vala shot him, not owning up to the fact that he hadn't told her that he'd never told them. "Must have slipped my mind."
"Maybe if you were here like you used to be..." Jack fixed him with a significant look.
Sighing, Sam stepped out of Jack's embrace and placed Charlie down. "Why don't you lead Hayden around back, okay?" The boy nodded, and Vala nudged Hayden forward. As the two children made their way around the house to the backyard, Sam stepped up to Vala. "Come on, we can properly introduce ourselves."
Vala gave Daniel a look. "Yeah, okay." She leaned up and placed a soft kiss to his lips. "If you need rescuing..." She whispered so only he could hear.
He closed his eyes and stroked her cheek. "Thank you." Daniel gave her another small kiss and reluctantly let her walk out of his grasp, the hand holding hers falling after she walked out of reach.
"Be nice." Sam whispered strongly to her husband as she passed him as Vala fell in step with her.
Jack gave her a smile. "Don't worry, girls. Just need Danny's help with some things inside..." He looked at his friend, who squirmed slightly under his gaze. "If he's not too busy to help?"
Shaking his head, Daniel held his hand up towards the front door. "Nope, I'm all yours."
Jack nodded curtly and tried to keep from stalking up to the door. Daniel slowly followed, staring at the stones that passed under his feet as he walked.
Vala watched him go with concern, sharing a look with Sam. She may have just met the woman, but she could tell as she looked in her blues eyes that she felt bad for Daniel too.
"Don't worry." The blonde offered. "Jack is Daniel's best friend...he would never hurt him."
A/N: So yeah, that plot twist is coming up in the next chapter, but this one hinted at it. So Daniel has finally 'fessed up'...wonder how Jack is going to take it? (heh!)
As always, reviews are LVOE (I know I haven't replied to any in a millenia...all of you who read my fics know I'm bad with that...but I don't delete them from my inbox until I replied, so they're all neatly saved in a folder. My goal is to get replies all out to my reviewers within the next week...that IS MY GOAL!)