Author's Note: Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

No, this is not a Valentine's Day inspired story. I was just listening to a song that was such a Daniel/Vala song, and got inspired. If you're curious, its The Good in Me by Andy Grammer.

Anyways, as always, let me know your thoughts.

DISCLAIMER: Sadly, still don't own anything related to Stargate SG-1 or the franchise. Still just letting my imagination run with their creation.

o0o

The Good in Me

Vala always knew eavesdropping on someone's conversation was going to bite her in the ass someday, but never in a million years would she have anticipated what the topic of that conversation would be – nor did she ever expect that it could very well change her life.

No one could even accuse her of intentionally overhearing the conversation – she was minding her own business in one of the science labs, working on a Goa'uld device. It wasn't her fault that the device was left in the back or that a big white board blocked her from view. She could have spoken up but decided to stay silent when a newly transferred scientist from Area 51 commented on her appearance. She hadn't wanted to embarrass the man, and if she was honest with herself, she liked hearing the compliments. But it wasn't what the newbie said that started the internal turmoil. No, it was Dr. Bill Lee of all people.

"It's a lost cause for you there, buddy," Bill declared with such certainty that had Vala frowning.

Who was Bill to decide such a thing? She almost made her presence known there, but before she could snap at Dr. Lee, the new guy spoke up.

"Oh, yeah?" he stated with a level of cockiness that made her raise her eyebrows. Maybe Bill was onto something. "What makes you so sure of that? For all you know, she could fall madly in love with me."

Vala almost snorted but held it in – Bill had nothing stopping him.

"Well, she would have to fall out of love with Dr. Jackson, which would take a damn miracle," Bill retorted, stating it like it was a known fact. "And even if she did, you would still have to go through Dr. Jackson. He won't take too kindly to you sniffing around her."

She sucked in a breath at Bill's words. There was too much to process from those few sentences. How the hell did Bill know about her feelings? By the sounds of agreement by the other scientists in the room, he wasn't the only one. But they were also agreeing on his second point – Daniel would have an issue with it. The only question was why?

"What, are they a couple or something?" new guy asked, sounding unconcerned about Bill's warning.

"Not officially," she heard Bill mumble, and by the tone, she knew he was concentrating on something else.

New guy scoffed. "What does that mean?"

"It means that they're in love with each other, but have yet to do something about it," Lee replied before sighing. "Look, I get it, and I don't want to be that guy, but others have tried and failed – all because it is inevitable between those two."

Vala didn't hear the rest of the conversation after that. Her ears began to ring, and she felt like her head was going to explode with this new information. Could it even be considered information at this point? Who knew if it was even true? In fact, it couldn't be true.

Daniel didn't love her.

She wasn't too deranged to pretend she didn't have feelings for him. She knew and acknowledged them, but she also accepted the fact that nothing would come of it. She also accepted that Daniel would probably never open that door again – especially not with her. It was no secret his late wife left a lasting scar on him, and the impact of the loss left him too shattered to even think about trying again.

Vala would never accuse him of being a coward (not to his face, at least), but they all know he was scared that if he did open that door, all of that pain and heartache would roll out on the floor, leaving him even more vulnerable and exposed – it was something everyone knew he would never willingly do.

Unless he had a reason to.

She blinked as reality slowly faded back in. Could she ever be that reason? No…that was just crazy talk – she couldn't be. Bill and the rest of the scientists had to be wrong. But could she really dismiss it without verifying the information? Could ever forgive herself if there was some truth there and she ignored it? She knew the answer before she could even finish her last thought.

Vala abruptly stood up and hurried out of the room and ignored Bill's 'Oh, shit.' She didn't care if they knew she was there. She didn't care what they thought. She needed more information, and dammit, she was going to get it!

o0o

"Is Daniel in love with me?"

Desperate sounding? Perhaps a bit. Blunt? Definitely, but Vala didn't give a damn. Besides, asking blunt and abrupt questions when someone wasn't expecting them often made it easier to read their facial expressions. Catching Samantha off guard was the only way for her to get it out of her friend.

And it looked like it worked. Colonel Samantha Carter's face gave it all away for two whole seconds before she was able to school her expression, but Vala got what she needed. "Where the hell did that come from?"

"He is," Vala huffed in shock, still finding it difficult to believe it. "Why the bloody hell didn't you tell me!" she glared at her friend, and wished she could hit her friend in person, but she would have to settle for glaring at the video screen.

Stupid wedding anniversary.

"Fuck," Samantha grumbled, and rubbed her temples. "The same reason why I never told him – I wasn't going to break either of your confidence."

Vala gaped at her. "Well…that's fucking stupid!" was it though? "We could've been…together or something," she stumbled out, but didn't fully believe it.

Samantha apparently didn't either, and gave her a 'Really?' look. "No offense, Vala, but do you really believe that?" she knew Samantha wasn't trying to be condescending, but that's how she was taking it. "You've had all this time to do something about it but haven't."

"But that's because I didn't know he felt the same way!" she argued, but would that have really helped?

A little, maybe, but it wasn't just about that, was it? Daniel had to be ready for a relationship – she did too. The main question was, were either of them ready?

Samantha bit her lip, and Vala recognized that look on the Colonel's face, but her friend didn't say anything. "What're you gonna do now?" she asked instead of the question Vala just asked herself.

That was another crucial question, wasn't it? "I…," she glanced down at the keyboard, "I don't know," she mumbled.

o0o

She decided that Samantha never actually said that Daniel felt the same. Vala technically made an assumption based on her facial expression. With that, she continued her hunt for more information.

She deployed the same tactic she had with Samantha – sneak attack. Mitchell was never good with those of the personal kind. Give him a situation off world, and he could adapt without blinking, but when it was something like this, he became a stuttering mess.

He didn't disappoint. He reacted the way she anticipated. Shocked at first, then processing what she said, before revealing everything the same way Samantha did. He couldn't school his face to save his life at that moment, and his sputtering to come up with a coherent sentence furthered her suspicions.

Vala highly doubted Teal'c would reveal anything. He wasn't one to be off guard, and even if he was, she didn't believe he would ever display any emotions – he was too well trained for that, but she had to try. She couldn't really be disappointed with the results – she expected the stone faced Jaffa, after all. But she swore, there was the tiniest hint of a smile on his face. It could have been wishful thinking on her part, but she was choosing to believe it.

It now looked like there was a distinct possibility that Daniel Jackson cared for her.

She just didn't know why. She was a mess. She accepted the fact that she was a lot to handle – and he certainly had his fair share handling her. She was far from perfect, and he had witnessed her flaws more than once. She often said things she knew were wrong and instantly regretted it but was too late to retract. It had definitely caused its fair share of trouble, but yet, it never broke them.

Despite all of that, somehow Daniel always saw the good in her, no matter how hard it was or how difficult she was being. Vala loved the way he saw her – he saw potential through all her mistakes. He saw someone she could be if she wanted to. She wanted to be that person sometimes.

If he could love her through all of that, why was she hesitating? If he loved her and she him, why not go for it? Why fight it? What was stopping it? Deep down, she knew the answer, but wanted to live in denial a little longer. The only problem with that is it would take longer, and did they really have time? The longer it took for them to face their feelings, it would only get harder to confess them. It was so much easier to lay the blame on Daniel and his fear of getting hurt again, but if something were to ever happen between them, she would need to be honest with him and herself.

Vala was terrified of putting it out there only to get hurt. She was afraid of opening that door. But without doing so, they would be stuck in limbo – unhappy. Could she do that, risk it?

More importantly, was it worth it?

o0o

Four days later, Vala sat with Daniel amongst several decaying ruins, trying to take pictures and catalog each one before it was time to head back to Earth. Teal'c and Mitchell were checking the perimeter and surrounding area – Samantha was still in D.C with Jack.

"Hey, are you okay?" Daniel asked.

Vala flinched in surprise. She had been too far deep into her thoughts and debating what she wanted to do about the recent knowledge she acquired. "Yes, fine. Why do you?" she responded cheerfully.

But he knew her too well and looked at her with skepticism. "You've been kind of quiet," he observed and gave her his full attention. "In fact, you've been kind of weird the last couple of days."

He noticed? And was that concern she heard in his voice? She couldn't deny it at this point – he knew her too well to believe it and would only pester her until she relented.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I need to say something, and I don't know how," she confessed, opening her eyes and looking at him. Nerves filled her, and she felt slightly nauseous. "It's difficult and…well, it's not something I'd say lightly, so, umm…Daniel, you see, I…well – fuck this is hard."

She probably would have kept stumbling over her words if he hadn't put his hand on her shoulder and looked at her in concern. "Vala, whatever it is, just say it," he interjected gently, most likely sensing her distress. "Rip off the bandaid."

Okay then. If he insisted. "I love you," she blurted out a second later. "I'm in love with you."

Daniel's face morphed into shock before his body froze altogether.

Vala took advantage of his silence. "I don't want you to say anything," she quickly added. "I know you probably think I'm messing with you, but I'm not. I've felt this way for a long time, and I can't keep pretending it doesn't exist."

He blinked at her, and his mouth moved but nothing came out. She wasn't sure if he was honoring her wish to remain silent or if he genuinely couldn't get anything out.

She took another breath before letting out a light chuckle that verged on the edge of hysteria. "The crazy thing is, I think you feel the same way about me," she glanced away from his face, focusing instead on his vest. She couldn't handle seeing his expression if it was the opposite of what she believed. "I know you're afraid of being hurt and losing someone again – I am too – but I think letting that hold us back from something I know would be incredible is just plain stupid."

Oh gods, she felt like she was going to throw up.

"I love the way you look at me – when you see something others don't. I love the way you view me – as something more. When you look at me, you see something of worth and value – someone who has potential. You've seen past my flaws and mistakes – you never ignore them or pretend they didn't exist. You may have addressed them, but you never let them stop you from seeing the good in me. You've always seen the good in me, even when you didn't want to – even when it was hard."

Vala glanced a peek at him, and she felt tears prick at her eyes at his wonder-like expression. Feeling more encouraged, she continued.

"When you look at me, you don't see past mistakes. You see the person I am and could be. You don't expect me to change myself, but instead want to reach my full potential. And I want to be that person – not for you," she quickly stated before wincing slightly. "Well, maybe just a little bit because of you, but mainly for me!"

Daniel seemed to finally regain his wits and inched closer to her. "Vala – "

"Don't!" she demanded and increased the distance between them. "Don't say anything!"

He frowned. "But – "

"No!" she snapped and took another step backwards. "Just don't. I know you, Daniel Jackson. I know you need time to process everything I just said, and anything you say right now would just be you reacting out of self-preservation, and I can't take right now – not after I've just bared my soul. So, don't talk to me or see me for the next few days, and when you can rationally talk about this, come find me."

With that, she fled.

Vala didn't care that it might make her look like a coward, but he wasn't the only one who had self-preservation instincts. In hindsight, it probably would have been better to do this on Earth and not in the middle of a mission, but she couldn't do anything about that now.

Her heart pounded in her chest, and it wasn't from the exertion of speed walking away from the ruins. The nausea reduced slightly but only to leave a panicky feeling in her, and second guessing her decision to act on the information she discovered.

She wasn't sure if she was too wrapped up in her thoughts and worries or if her heart was pounding too loud, but she didn't hear him until he grabbed her arm and spun her around. She hadn't been prepared for it and her feet became a twisted mess, so she ended up tumbling into his chest – to which he caught her, and surprisingly, held her there.

"Vala –"

"Don't," she begged again. "I already told yo–"

"I love you, too," he blurted out before she could finish.

Vala froze in shock. "What?" she said, barely audible.

Daniel gave her the most brilliant smile she'd ever seen. His whole face radiated an emotion she had never seen – true happiness and joy. It was breathtaking. His hand grabbed her jaw, tilting it up towards him, before his thumb caressed her cheek. "I don't need days to process or think," he told her softly. "I'm in love with you, too."

Against her will, a tear escaped, but he quickly caught it with his thumb. "Really?" she whispered.

"Really," his other hand cupped the side of her head. "I know I can be a lot to handle as well. I know I have my flaws, but you've always seen past that," he stepped closer, leaving no room between them. "You see who I am. You know the real me and what I can be like, but despite it, you can still see the good in me and love me."

Vala let out a shaky breath. "Daniel…" she let it trail off, not knowing what to say.

Daniel leaned in closer until mere inches separated them completely. "And I love how brave you are," his eyes flickered down to her lips. "I know how hard that was for you, and I could've never done what you did just now…but I'm so damn glad you did."

And with that, he kissed the ever-loving daylights out of her.

Everything around them faded away, and it felt like they were the only two people in the universe. That is until…

"Ah, hell!" said a disgruntled voice she vaguely recognized.

"I believe you owe me $50 Colonel Mitchell," a stoic voice commented, but even in her blissed out fog, she heard the smile in his voice.

Vala never thought eavesdropping could ever lead to something like this. As much as she hated the thought, she knew she would always be indebted to Bill – secretly, of course. If she had never overheard that conversation…well, let's just say, she never wanted to know.

The End.