LIBERTINES AND LIBERATION – TRAVEL PLANS WITH THE TOK'RA – CHAPTER 21
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any Stargate characters, ideas or themes. As a matter of fact, Stargate can have my ideas if they want them (wouldn't that be great). All standard applicable disclaimers apply to this piece. I have tried to source any materials quoted in furtherance of this story.
Spoilers: Probably some for Season 10 and beyond
Summary: Vala and Daniel centered storyline adventure (hopefully); relationship (okay yes); angst (yup); comfort; etc.
Rating: R to NC-17 in some parts.
Author's Note: This is my first Stargate fiction. I have no betas – not even a beta fish – not even sure what a beta is in fact.
There's more to follow, probably tomorrow.
This story will have multiple chapters.
I took inspiration from Milena D's Misappropriation of Lives and a short story called Believe by Random. I really wish those two authors would write more on those two story lines.
I hope for a few comments.
Travel Plans with the Tok'ra
Teal'c and Cam were a few feet ahead of Vala and Daniel, all were heading to the quartermaster to be outfitted in disguises and weapons for off world undercover travel.
"So I guess we're not going on our date tonight," Vala pouted.
Daniel raised his eyebrows, "Well, we can eat our MRE's together."
Vala folded her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes, "That's not the same thing Daniel and you know it!"
Daniel gave her the behave eyebrow and said, "It wasn't a date, and we have other things to talk about. Is Re Van setting a trap here?"
"Well Daniel, I have to say so far my connections in this affair have proven more reliable than yours." Vala said irritation in her tone; she really didn't want to talk about this, but she had no choice. She added, "Truthfully, I'm surprised that Aton is involved. Then again, I had to sweeten the deal with information on some kassa fields after you became hysterical and Aton zatted you."
"I didn't become hysterical. I didn't want to leave you and Sam behind! And, I was right; you shouldn't have been left behind; look what happened to you." Daniel said hotly, grabbing Vala's arm and pulling her over to the side of the hall. "What extra deal did you make; AND WHAT is your connection to this man?" Daniel had started to raise his voice, but then realized the change in volume and calmed.
"Well darling, after you refused to go quietly with Aton, after he zatted you, I wanted to be sure you'd be alright. I wanted to make sure, since you were unconscious, that he wouldn't change his mind and kill you -- I was pretty sure, but I wanted to be very sure -- so I told him if he delivered you safe and sound, I would reveal the location of the kassa fields we found."
"You did what!!" Daniel was yelling now, looking at Vala like she had betrayed him.
"Daniel please don't shout darling!" Vala said with defiant eyes. She added intensely, "Daniel, I did tell all of you, none of you listened, YOU put us in a dangerous situation, I HAD TO BE SURE. I COULDN'T LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO YOU!" Now Vala was yelling. "And Sam heard me make the offer; she was there and she agreed with me; we needed to be sure." Vala realized she was yelling as Daniel pulled her out of the hall into a storage room.
Daniel was looking at her unmoved, so she changed tacks, "You have no right to be upset -- you don't know . . . you don't know what it's like to see someone you . . . ." Too late Vala recalled Daniel's wife, and of course he did know; he did have an idea of that kind of terror.
"OH, OH, I don't know, I don't know!" Daniel yelled back interrupting her and shaking her shoulders, "I KNOW VALA! I KNOW." Daniel wasn't sure who Vala was talking about; he wasn't sure if he was talking about Sha're, Sam or Vala – maybe all three.
Vala stammered, "Daniel, you were helpless, unconscious, and I NEEDED you to be safe; I NEEDED to be SURE."
Had Vala heard him? Daniel wasn't sure. She was talking over him, "Aton was taking you one way or the other; he'd been sent to kill you; I know him too well Daniel, I've seen him, he could have easily killed you . . . and I couldn't let that happen." She looked up and stopped when she saw Daniel staring at her like she was insane.
Her voice became calmer, "I had to do everything I could to make sure you were safe; so I could concentrate on keeping Sam out of harms way. And, I DID that Daniel. I kept her safe." Vala was looking at the floor. She felt Daniel put an arm around her.
"Vala, I'm sorry I yelled. I was just surprised. No one told me. YOU DIDN'T TELL ME." Daniel accused.
"I didn't tell you, because I don't like talking about it; I don't like talking about him." Vala said in almost a whisper with a bit of a shudder.
At her words, Daniel felt a mix of sympathy, gratitude and exasperation at her understatement of the year. Yeah, you'd don't like talking about it he thought bitterly, so I'm in the dark and everyone else in the equation knows the score, great he thought. But he didn't say any of that, he said, "Vala, I never said thank you for what you did. I got caught up in what it cost you; and I forgot to thank you."
"I don't want you to thank me Daniel. I just don't want you to yell at me about how I managed it. If there are consequences, then I want you to understand, because I didn't create that situation. And if you can't, then I DON'T CARE. I'd do the same thing again KNOWING HOW IT ALL turns out; I would do it again to keep you and Sam safe." Vala said with a strong edge of defiance, but she couldn't look up at Daniel. She knew she'd just sounded a bit like Erica Cane on All My Children and was cringing a bit from embarrassment, though she meant what she said.
Daniel didn't know how to react to her vehemence about Sam's safety – and his own safety in particular. He recalled that her bravery and willingness for self-sacrifice on behalf of the team were two of the reasons he thought she would make an excellent addition to SG-1. She was fearless, had proven herself selfless, intuitive and smart. She was also impulsive and reckless.
Daniel shook it all out of his head. "So you're telling me you're not sure if you can trust Re Van? That's what you're saying?" Daniel asked plainly.
"I would say my experience with Re Van has been a mixed bag Daniel; there have been some things . . . that he did to me . . . that were . . . difficult . . . on the other hand, he has rendered great services to me, with little or no persuasion. And, he has saved me or spared me, when he would have killed someone else. He saved you because I asked him to Daniel." Vala looked up briefly and saw Daniel's eyes plastered on her in curiosity, clearly dying for a full bore interrogation.
"He saved me because you agreed to pay him." Daniel said sternly.
"Yes, that too. And, I would say, the better compensated we keep Re Van, the more trustworthy he will be." Vala said slowly.
With that, Vala walked out of the office and headed for the quartermaster, leaving Daniel with more questions than he had started with.
Daniel called after Vala, "Vala we're not done on the topic of Re Van. Vala!"
As Vala changed into a black leather vest; light blue leather Bolero jacket and fawn colored leather pants, she sighed deeply. She hated talking about Aton Re Van; hated that he had asked for her and hated that he seemed to be back in her life. Every time he came up, a chasm seemed to form with Daniel. Vala didn't want to tell Daniel the full story of Re Van; she wanted to forget him and everything that went with him.
"Vala gave Re Van information on the kassa fields we found near the abandoned Ori ship." Daniel announced as the team prepared for the mission.
"Yeah, we know Jackson." Cam said.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Daniel said, pissed about not being included in the loop.
"Slipped my mind," Cam said with his jaw set.
It didn't look like Vala would be able to forget Aton Re Van any time soon.
"Here boys, we're using these cloaks. That way we're prepared for all covert operations." Vala smiled changing the subject and handing them all rough burlap cloaks with hoods.
"Let's go people." Cam said.
Onwaska was a border planet and an agrarian culture. Since the kassa production started about five years ago more people had shown up -- hard, rough looking people and opportunists that had given Onwaska a reputation for being dangerous. But the beautiful green kassa fields, in stark relief to the dusty brown uncultivated areas of the planet, seemed peaceful not dangerous.
Thellas had a large room near a small, seedy bar in an out of the way part of the main city. From his rooms, he was able to observe the main comings and goings in the bar. The rooms were basic but large with a rough hewn floor and a window ideal for watching the scene at the bar. The room was troubled with only minimal furniture, but included a flat sofa-like place where the team could sit or nap.
SG-1, minus Sam, set up in the room and waited; they took shifts observing the comings and goings to be sure about further contact with Aton Re Van.
The team was taking shifts; some watching the bar and some sleeping.
Teal'c and Cam were on watch while Vala was stretched out on the sofa. Daniel had stretched out on the sofa in the other direction so that they looked like bookends.
Vala had been asleep about an hour when she began to thrash waking Daniel up.
"Looks like Princess is having a bit of a nightmare, Jackson." Cam said worried.
"Well what do you want me to do about it?" Daniel snapped.
Just then, Vala sprang up into Sleeping Warrior Stance. "Just leave her alone; it's better to let her wake herself up." Daniel ordered, making Cameron smirk at the expertise in Daniel's voice, especially considering that he'd just snapped at Cam for asking him what to do.
Vala stood in Sleeping Warrior Stance for a minute before rousing herself out of it. In the meantime, Daniel had gotten up and placed his arm around Vala and led her back down onto the sofa. With Teal'c and Cam's eyes upon him, he felt like he was exposing himself, exposing some deep dark secret. But he didn't feel like he could just leave Vala standing there confused. If they were alone, he would have laid down beside her, put his arms around her. But they weren't alone, so he sat by her, leaned over and whispered something the others couldn't hear. He stayed seated by her side and watched her fall back asleep.
"Daniel Jackson, you have witnessed Vala Mal Doran assume this stance before?" Teal'c asked in a low voice.
"Yeah Teal'c she does it from time to time when she's stressed or drugged." Daniel said in a tired voice; he wondered how Vala had become his responsibility; his knowledge; his burden.
"I too have seen Vala Mal Doran in this fighting position before. Ishta and I observed this stance when we were sparring with Vala Mal Doran during her visit." Teal'c said.
"So she was awake at the time?" Daniel asked puzzled. He'd never seen this stance in any of the training sessions or off world encounters he had seen Vala in.
"Yes she was awake. Vala Mal Doran had requested an opportunity to participate in a traditional Jaffa sparring training session, where you take on two opponents. Ishta and I agreed to oppose Vala Mal Doran. We had been training since sunrise. We had fought for three hours and were nearing the break of our session, Vala Mal Doran had performed well for a human, but she was showing signs of fatigue. Her breathing was deeper and she perspired. She fought well, but had not bested myself or Ishta. Then Vala Mal Doran fell into the fighting position we observed tonight. And, from this position she executed an attack upon Ishta that overpowered her; Ishta loss balance and was quickly pushed across the floor by Vala Mal Doran. Then Vala Mal Doran turned towards me in the same stance. She moved quickly, I must say I have never seen such speed from a human. Her moves caused me to lose balance as well and gave Vala Mal Doran the opportunity to take my staff weapon." Teal'c relayed.
"What did Vala say about it?" Daniel asked finding Teal'c's story incredible, very few people could best Teal'c. Vala was a good fighter. She was crafty, but she was all of 5'5" and maybe 105 pounds soaking wet. Her advantages in a fight came from tactics. But with Teal'c tactics were simply not enough.
"Both Ishta and myself asked Vala Mal Doran what training she had used to spar, but she claimed not to remember the events leading up to her victory; she claimed not to have any formal training. Ishta indicated to Vala Mal Doran that there was indeed some training at play, but Vala Mal Doran denies it.
Daniel was perplexed by the story.
"Is it possible these are genetic memories of Qetesh?" Daniel asked.
"It is possible Daniel Jackson, but I have never seen any Goa'uld employ such tactics." Teal'c responded.
"I'd need more to go on than just one stance to figure anything out," Cam said thoughtfully.
After twenty-four hours of observing the bar, Thellas had identified no known Tok'ra operatives. Vala had not identified any obvious Lucian Alliance contacts. However, she had observed a contingent loyal to Aton Re Van.
"I think Aton knows you're watching, Thellas." Vala said, "He's letting you get comfortable, which probably means everything is fine and on the level. But I'd like to scout a secondary position and then follow Aton unobserved for a bit before we make contact."
"How are we going to do that?" Daniel asked.
"WE aren't going to do anything darling. I'M going alone this time." Vala said firmly. "I can move and track better by myself."
"Vala. I'm going," Daniel said firmly.
"Because you were so much help last time?" Vala fumed, "Why won't you ever let me do my job?"
Daniel blanched momentarily at her words, but added firmly, "Not going alone Vala."
"Break it up you two. Vala, Jackson is going on your six." Cam ordered.
"Fine. But Daniel, you do what I say, and I mean it." Vala ordered.
"Fine," Daniel said.
Vala went over the signals she wanted Daniel to follow and what they meant. He paid close attention and nodded. Then they headed up the back stairs of Thellas's building to the roof.
"Daniel, this won't work if you can't jump a roof." Vala said, expecting him to balk.
"Don't worry about me," Daniel said roughly.
Vala looked at him, saw the hard set of his jaw, and resigned herself to him coming with her; he wasn't backing down.
"Okay, the trick to jumping a roof is timing. It's like a dance; have you ever danced Daniel?" Vala looked at him with amusement in her eyes, but her tone held a serious quality that made him pay attention. Daniel started to worry that he wouldn't be able to pull this off.
"Look why don't you watch me from here. You don't need to come, Daniel." Vala said earnestly, and genuinely worried for him, though they were only jumping a roof of a four story building this time.
"Don't worry Ms. Mal Doran; I will not drag you down." Daniel said like a Boy Scout.
"Alright, remember to count, it helps; it really does." Vala smiled and touched his face. She backed up, "One, two, three . . . . " Vala made a leap worthy of Baryshnikov in his prime and cleared the expanse between the buildings with plenty of room to spare. This definitely wasn't her first dance Daniel thought.
Daniel had to admit he was impressed with her jump. He began to wonder if he should have let her go alone. Vala was making "hurry up" eyebrows at him. So he followed her instructions to the letter, took in a deep breath and cleared the expanse by will power and reason that he had longer legs and a considerable height advantage on her. Nevertheless, the jump was clumsy and on a more complicated roof line might not have been successful. He looked at Vala as if his skills were comparable to hers and she should never question them again.
Vala merely nodded approval, knowing when push came to shove leaping these expanses would not be a strong suit for Daniel Jackson. Men, she thought to herself with a smirk.
After two more similar leaps, which Vala graded as extremely simple to execute, but which Daniel seemed quite proud of himself for, though he uttered not a word of pride to Vala, Vala announced they would be descending the stairwell into an alley.
They were in the alley behind the bar directly in front of the rear door. From a position behind a short wall where the garbage cans and the local version of an alley cat, which looked like it might attack if you gave it half a chance, resided, they observed the back entrance of the bar. Daniel once again found himself impressed with Vala's skill set in executing this operation; for within a short time they were watching Aton Re Van himself exiting the bar to attend to some business.
Vala gave Daniel the signal to trail her at a very far distance and she began her tail of Aton Re Van. The skills Daniel saw in Vala's surveillance were attributable to her years with Aton Re Van, Daniel thought. She knew this man. Still her skills were admirable. He'd followed people himself, both successfully and unsuccessfully; he knew how difficult it was.
"Well Daniel and I have trailed Aton for several hours. I think we've learned all we're going to learn from these covert observations." Vala said, "He does not appear to be planning any capture of SG-1 from my evaluation."
"So next I send the signal and let him know you're here." Thellas said.
"No," Vala said. "Next, I send a message."
"How do we do that?" Daniel asked.
"I walk across the street and talk to Aton, while you folks wait here." Vala said with a smile.
"That's not happening Vala, you're not going alone." Daniel said firmly.
Would the man never trust her abilities. "Darling, you're only going to complicate the set up," Vala purred placing her hand on Daniel's chest.
Daniel grabbed Vala's hand and tossed it off. "You are NOT going alone." Daniel dictated.
Thellas raised an eyebrow at the repeat of this bickering between Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran.
"Alright Daniel, but you're not coming at all." Vala announced. She had to have some control here for God's sake. "Cameron, how about it, would like to grab a drink?"
"Sure Princess, let's have a drink." Cam grinned at Vala while looking at Daniel who was ready to protest before he saw Cam's look and thought better of it.
Daniel had folded his arms over his chest as he watched Vala whip off the rough burlap cloak she had been wearing. She took her hair out of the pigtails she'd been wearing and fluffed it out. She twice checked the knife she had down her pants leg -- her only sign of nerves as far as Daniel could tell. He watched her remove the Bolero jacket and unbutton half the buttons on the vest she was wearing. Does this woman ever wear a bra Daniel thought as more and more cleavage started showing.
"Vala, what the hell are you doing?" Daniel asked, running his eyes quickly to her cleavage and back in an annoyed manner.
"Well darling," Vala said with a smirk while running her hand down her side like she was modeling an outfit, "This may come as a complete and utter shock to you, but some men find my attributes distracting. Since you're forcing me to take Cameron along, I'm going to use all the advantages at my disposal in case something goes wrong." With that Vala placed her hands under her breasts and pushed them even further front and center. Daniel's mouth dropped opened.
Cam began to laugh, "She's right Jackson THAT is distracting."
Daniel glared at him, but said nothing.
"Cameron, you will remain concealed and enter 10 minutes after I do, understood?" Vala said.
The smile disappeared from Cameron's face at this command.
"Muscles, back alley in case someone tries to abscond with Cameron," Vala ordered. Teal'c bowed compliance.
"Seamus" Vala said looking at Daniel, "you'll be on the roof." Daniel gave her a double take when she referred to him using the name assumed identity she had given him as a half wit she'd won in a poker game. "Here you go Seamus," Vala threw Daniel a set of binoculars so he could observe inside the bar from the roof top.
"Thellas," Vala ordered, "You'll watch from here."
"Anybody have any questions?" Vala asked, clearly in command. Everyone shook their heads no and started to gather belongings to prepare.
Vala approached Daniel who was putting on his burlap cloak. He was frowning at her.
Vala smiled at him and put her hand on the side of his cheek, a gesture he usually found acceptable, "Get over it. I'll be fine darling."
He nodded to her, but said nothing. He didn't like Re Van; he liked the thought of Vala alone with Re Van even less.
Five minutes later, everyone was leaving for their posts. Vala and her cleavage left to a position in the door by the street to wait five more minutes before crossing to the bar.
Cameron slapped Daniel on the back and said with a smirk, "You know I like that girl Jackson, you bring home the most interesting friends."
Daniel sat on the roof top watching as Vala approached Aton Re Van in the bar across the street. In a repeat of their reunion on Emeteo's ship, Re Van took his time evaluating Vala sensually. No bars to prevent it, or space thugs watching, Re Van brought Vala into a full sensual embrace and then kissed her as deeply as she would allow on the mouth. Vala did not protest, but Daniel saw that she had pressed her hands back into Re Van's chest keeping him from a full embrace and kiss, the international signal from women that they are avoiding as much contact as possible short of telling you no outright. Daniel saw the interest was all on Re Van's side. There was no return on Vala's part. It was just submission and compliance – female pirate diplomacy Daniel thought with a disgusted "hmmmpff".
Daniel watched as Re Van ordered Vala a drink and sat talking with her, occasionally kissing her hand, which made Daniel's skin crawl. He needed the full story on their relationship and he needed it soon.
Vala's vouchsafe for Thellas satisfactory, an hour later, the group was sitting on Re Van's modified Ha'tak ship. Re Van had made numerous modifications to both to the equipment and the appearance of his Ha'tak. He had found a way to increase his speed; he had an excellent cloaking device and he had managed to strip off much of the oppressive gold gilt so that the ship was easier to live in for long periods of time.
The group was about to begin the discussions of a price for his information about Laspul'gas.
"Wonk, you're last demands on my friends were quite profitable," Vala said, "Perhaps you should give us this information on good faith. After all, Cameron tells me he had to suggest you come back for me. You can imagine my disappointment considering I PAID you handsomely to return." Vala looked at Aton pointedly.
Daniel appreciated the skill he was witnessing in Vala's negotiations. She knew what she was doing. Daniel had to admire the skill even if it were plied with a sexuality he found repugnant given the recipient.
"Well Wonk that was then, this is now. What have you done for me today?" Aton's smile was seductive as he picked up her hand and rubbed his thumb into her palm.
"Ahh," Vala said, looking at Thellas, "Aton is not one for sentiment. Perhaps you should put something else on the table."
A deal struck, Re Van was transporting the team to a smaller nearby planet, Sunnabar or P54-392, where Re Van claimed they would find Laspul'gas and could observe his Lucian Alliance and Tok'ra connections.
Although she was mightily trying to cover her disquiet, Vala had a visceral reaction to being back on Re Van's ship. To Daniel her demeanor screamed that she wanted nothing more than to escape this place.
The group had been given a general ready room to use for sleeping quarters.
Daniel boiled thinking of Re Van's comments to Vala regarding the arrangements.
"I'm sorry gentlemen, but space on my ship is rather tight." Re Van said as he'd shown them to the cots he had set up in the ready room.
"You know Wonk you might have kicked some of those reprobates out of the Officer's Quarters for our stay – especially considering it was my information on the kassa fields that lead you to find these other fields and Laspul'gas." Vala wheedled.
Re Van laughed, "Oh, I have to keep the officers happy as you well remember. Of course, Wonk, there's room in my bed for you, you're most welcome as always."
Vala had purred, "I'll keep that in mind," but she didn't move from Daniel's side.
They had all settled in. Vala was asleep on her cot; Daniel reading on his next to her. Thellas, Teal'c and Cam were talking quietly at a table when Re Van had entered the ready room to check on them.
Re Van, playing host and updating flight progress popped into the ready room. Re Van's disturbance of the molecules in the room must have stirred Vala. She began to toss in her sleep. More quickly than he had seen before, Vala had jumped up into Sleeping Warrior Stance.
"Ohh, she's doing that again?" Aton Re Van laughed, "You know she once flattened two of my crew from that stance." He strode across the room and swept Vala off her feet and into his arms, shaking her a bit violently.
"That's not necessary Re Van!" Daniel said forcefully.
Re Van paid no attention. Daniel could see that Vala was startled to her bones to awaken in Re Van's embrace. She groggily pushed against his chest, clearly not knowing if she were still asleep and clearly wanting to be put down. Re Van's awakening had been almost violent. And as he held her against her will, Daniel thought he saw some brutality in Re Van. Daniel was already moving towards them as he watched Re Van whisper something in Vala's ear that made her pale.
Daniel had had enough; and he was close enough to interfere so he put his hands on Vala; she immediately responded by reaching her hands towards him which allowed Daniel to take her away from Re Van's arms and into his own. Vala sealed herself off from Re Van by putting her arms around Daniel's neck. Re Van seemed a little surprised, but ceded his prize with relative ease, though Daniel saw Re Van's eyes were cold with thoughts of further confrontation. Daniel was going to let Vala stand on her own feet, but something about this pirate, his mentality made him keep her in his arms, made him claim her for himself, for the team.
Teal'c had also moved towards Re Van. "I do not believe Vala Mal Doran appreciated your interference with her sleep Aton Re Van," Teal'c said with the strength and serious calm that only Teal'c could command. These were practically the first words that Teal'c had ever spoken to Re Van, and they said, this woman is my friend, and you will not molest her this way again.
"Ah, I didn't realize Dr. Jackson that you were on duty." Re Van said with a return to geniality.
As Re Van walked towards the door, he added, "I don't know what you did to break her Dr. Jackson, but I can assure you when she was under my care, I had cured her of this little oddity." And then Re Van left leaving Daniel with a confused, shaking, disoriented Vala in his arms, and his three traveling companions keenly observing everything.
Ignoring his team took some effort on Daniel's part, but there was nothing else he could do. He laid Vala back down on her bed; she still seemed disoriented, startled. "Shhh, shhhh," Daniel whispered to her as he lay down on the bed with her.
The other three looked at each other but said nothing.
Daniel cringed at the entire exchange. But what could he do really, let Re Van terrorize Vala? Was that what life was like when Vala was with Re Van Daniel wondered as she lay against his chest. Daniel's emotions seethed as he focused on stroking Vala's hair, comforting her, until she fell asleep again. Daniel didn't want to think about what his teammates must be thinking. He didn't want to think at all.
Re Van's ship established an orbit around P54-392. Daniel thanked the ancients for including a Stargate on the planet. With any luck they could gate to the Epsilon site and then the Alpha site and go home without any more ride alongs with Re Van. Re Van brought the team and Thellas to the planet surface in an Al'kesh. Ever cautious, Re Van did not want to risk alerting anyone to this surveillance of Laspul'gas.
Re Van had provided them with another set of rooms he had reserved for watching the comings and goings of Laspul'gas and those he consorted with at a nearby pub. Vala approved of Re Van's selection, much more than she had the room selected by Thellas. The room was not front and center; but it afforded a view of all entrances to the pub and still gave good views of the comings and goings.
It appeared that Re Van's information was correct; Laspul'gas showed up early the second day; shortly afterward Slaviash, a former second of Netan in the Lucian Alliance, showed.
"Well this meeting appears to verify some sort of connection between at least Laspul'gas and the Lucian Alliance. Whether he acts solely for his own benefit remains to be seen." Thellas had said afterward.
They'd agreed to continue surveillance for a few more days to see whether any more information would turn up, perhaps an additional connection to the Tok'ra or the Alliance.
They'd been on watch for two more days with SG-1 making security perimeter checks and investigating whether they'd be able to use the Stargate to leave. The gate remained unguarded for large stretches of the day.
Vala had suggested trying to put out feelers for more information, but everyone vetoed the idea as too risky.
Towards the end of the second day, Vala and Thellas were in the room on watch, while the rest of the team was running perimeter checks outside. Daniel had finished his check; he had his hand on the door of the room when he heard Thellas say to Vala, "You have done well. I will make sure to tell Oleran and the others on the extraction team that they were successful."
"You do that." Vala said flatly.
Daniel quietly cracked the door open to see the two.
"You do not appreciate the efforts that were made on your behalf." Thellas spoke in an annoyed voice.
"Oh, I am grateful that you took Qetesh out of my head." Vala said flatly.
"I would think you would show more enthusiasm to one of your rescuers." Thellas smiled coldly.
"You?" Vala asked.
"Yes, I helped with the rebellion, and later your extraction." Thellas said.
"And you want more enthusiastic gratitude do you?" Vala said closing her eyes, trying to hold back anger.
"Yes, if it weren't for us, you would still be suffering at the hands of Qetesh; we saved you all that pain, all that suffering."
"You want enthusiasm from me for saving me from all that pain?" Vala snorted out, shaking her head.
"Yes, where is your gratitude?" Thellas asked.
"Perhaps I could express my gratitude with more enthusiasm had you Tok'ra planned a rescue that avoided five days of torture, five days of rape at the hands of Qetesh's former slaves." Vala spat out, "What were you Tok'ra doing all that time?"
Daniel was shocked to hear the extent of what Vala had been put through; he was surprised by the level of emotion and anger in Vala's voice.
Thellas seemed surprised by Vala's response, "Well our retrieval programs were in their infancy. There was much debate on the matter of whether to rescue the host before it was decided. Frankly, I voted against it."
"But you want my gratitude nonetheless?" Vala laughed bitterly. "Hopefully your group makes their decisions more swiftly when the victims of the Goa'uld are being tortured." Vala added angrily.
"Well mistakes are unavoidable." Thellas added, not by way of an apology.
"No doubt you are correct." Vala conceded.
"And what about afterwards, after you have removed the symbiote, when the patient says no thank you to a new snake in the head and the Tok'ra way?" Vala asked, "Are you still dumping people on their home worlds without a choice? Are you still returning them to people without knowing whether they're wanted back?" Vala spat again.
Daniel felt his blood chill hearing a description of how Vala's rescue from Qetesh had been handled and her bitterness about her life afterwards.
"We cannot leave a newly divorced host unattended and alone; we have seen too many suicides." Thellas said.
"Oh, I see, far preferable to send them home and close your eyes about what happened next." Vala was yelling now.
Daniel thought the situation was deteriorating into Vala becoming hysterical. He was torn between learning more and smoothing the rift with this important Tok'ra ally.
"Hey guys," Daniel said, "Vala are you alright? You know I could hear you in the hall."
"Vala and I were just discussing her experiences with Tok'ra host divorce processes." Thellas said.
"Well I'm sure Vala is grateful not to have Qetesh in her head." Daniel said.
"Ah, yes she is, it is just everything else she rebukes the Tok'ra for." Thellas spoke a little harshly.
"I'm sure not everything," Daniel said diplomatically, giving Vala the can you apologize and make this right eyebrows.
Vala got up and glared at Daniel before turning to Thellas, "I am grateful Thellas, no matter what the cost, to be freed from Qetesh." And then she walked out of the room.
Daniel found her sitting on the roof.
"Vala." Daniel said by way of an ice breaker.
"You had no right to say that Daniel." Vala looked at him angrily.
"I was trying to smooth things over." Daniel said, "You're a member of SG-1. What you say reflects on us; it matters."
"Daniel, I tried to be diplomatic; Thellas pushed it; apparently he was one of my rescuers, needed further patting on the back, forget that they're bumbling left me exposed to . . . left me for . . . I don't think Thellas sees me as speaking for your planet." Vala looked into Daniel's eyes with an intense, enigmatic expression.
Vala couldn't bring herself to describe the horrors of that time to Daniel; to describe what happened when they had forced her home. She was angry at him for hearing any of it.
"You don't own me Daniel! You don't speak for me! You had no right!" Vala seethed.
Vala's anger flooded over Daniel. Had he been thinking; had he not been strained and tired from the stress and tension of the last few days, he might not have said what followed, but he was.
"Vala, YOU'VE wormed your way into my life. I vouched for you. I GOT YOU THE POSITION ON SG-1. I am responsible for you and your behavior on missions. This is an SGC mission." Daniel said emphatically.
"Oh, is that what I've done Daniel 'wormed' my way into your life? How lyrical! You are a true linguist my Daniel." Vala snorted, "I can't argue with what you've done for me with your Earth's government, securing a place at the SGC. Helping me to make a . . . a home . . . a place for myself I mean. I am grateful Daniel. I am very grateful to you." Vala forced herself to look up at him. Daniel saw the sincerity in her eyes. She wasn't lying; he might have softened if she'd just shut up, but she didn't.
"But it isn't a one way street Daniel. I bring things to the table I believe the expression goes. I have attributes that YOU wanted, were attracted to . . . skills you wanted from the beginning and don't try to deny it. You wanted me here, or I wouldn't be here Daniel." Vala said emphatically.
Daniel wasn't sure what they were talking about anymore. He wasn't sure what she was saying to him.
She'd continued to speak and Daniel had to catch up listening to her, "And this isn't an SGC mission! It's a Tok'ra mission! One on which my presence was specially requested."
"Well Vala I think the rest of the team would disagree." Daniel started.
"I'm sure they would." Vala said absently as she shook her head seemingly lost in an epiphany, "I'M working with the Tok'ra; I'M dealing with Aton Re Van; I'M working with the Tok'ra and Aton Re Van because YOU wanted me to do it!"
Daniel looked at her confused; what the hell was she talking about. But before he knew what to say; before he could figure out how the conversation had gotten so out of hand, Vala laughed and her entire demeanor changed.
"Darling, the Tok'ra are a bit of a sore subject with me – rather like asking you to have coffee with Apophis." She gave him a big grin.
Daniel gave her two raised eyebrows, put his hands in his pockets and let out a big sigh, "Yeah. I guess so."
"Don't worry, it will be fine, Thellas and I are fine, and I'm hungry, darling, let's have something to eat." Vala expertly changed the subject as she looped her arm through Daniel's and led him to the door of the rooftop.
In A Nutshell
SG-1 sat in the briefing room with General Landry and Richard Woolsey. They'd just been over the Onwaska and P54-392 mission reports along with the related investigation of Laspul'gas.
"So to summarize what I've heard," Woolsey said officiously, "After the Tok'ra unexpectedly contacted us last week with further information on Laspul'gas, the SGC has been conducting investigations into the possibility that Laspul'gas is heading, or working with a Lucian Alliance faction with the ultimate goal of some undefined Tok'ra faction gaining control of the Lucian Alliance. And Thellas has no idea how far up the Tok'ra food chain this little conspiracy goes."
"In a nutshell," General Landry said.
"And you trust Thellas?" Woolsey asked.
"Thellas has provided invaluable information in the past. It was Thellas that informed us of the dialing virus for the Stargate system." Landry reminded Woolsey.
Woolsey let out a big breath, "The IOC is not going to be pleased with this news. Ms. Mal Doran, it seems your instincts were correct and the SGC has you to thank for saving Colonel Carter and Dr. Jackson from the Lucian Alliance. It also seems your connections were instrumental in this latest investigation."
"In a nutshell," Vala said and smiled at Woolsey pointedly.
"It seems your reconnaissance on Onwaska and P54-392 may prove useful." Woolsey said stating the obvious.
"In a nutshell," Daniel confirmed.