Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate, you all know that :)

Author's Note: Again, sorry for the delay, I spent some time out of town.


Chapter Six, Welcome Home,

Daniel practically flew into the gateroom as he saw Vala step through the gate. He couldn't believe she'd come back, he really thought he'd lost her for good. He just hoped there was nothing wrong, that she was coming back because she wanted to, and not because she was in trouble.

He stopped short when he reached the ramp leading down from the gate: All he wanted to do was run forward and hold her in his arms, but he wasn't sure that was such a good idea at this point. There was still so much doubt between them, and so much doubt between Vala and the rest of Stargate Command, that, though he wanted nothing better then to hold her and never let go, it wasn't a good time to do anything reckless. Everything he did he should do carefully, he'd have to watch every word he spoke, every action needed to be carefully thought over.

Somehow, even though Vala usually needed more then that, she could see just by his look that he wanted her there. She could see affection and relief in his eyes, and it made her suddenly feel more brave then she had a moment before. Even though he didn't rush forward to hold her like she would have liked, it was comforting to see in his eyes that he wanted to.

"Vala..." Daniel said, slowly. Not sure how to continue.

"Daniel." Vala nodded, cordially. All of her guards were up, her walls were high around her, she was protecting herself. She tried to put on a front, like she wasn't concerned about these peoples response to her arrival, but that was far from the truth.

"Well, we didn't expect to see you again," General Landry's voice came from behind Daniel, he appeared calm as well, and Daniel marveled how anyone could just stand there calmly. He had to fight every feeling in him to stay in his place a couple yards away from Vala.

Vala could see the rest of SG1 standing a few feet behind Daniel, watching silently from a distance. Alice Griffith muttered something under her breath and turned and brushed past the others.

"Wait a moment, Doctor Griffith, I want all of SG1 (and Vala) in the briefing room immediately." The General said, and Alice stopped, took a deep breath, and followed the others to the briefing room.

Daniel waited until Vala followed, but she didn't immediately move.

"Go on, Vala, " General Landry instructed, sounding grave.

When Vala still seemed to not want to move, (it appeared her casual front had left her), Daniel closed the distance between them, though still not hugging her like he wanted to, took her gently by the arm, with a soft smile, and led her towards the briefing room, though he knew she still knew where it was.

When all of SG1, Vala, and the General, were all seated in the briefing room, there was a momentary silence before the General spoke, "So, Vala, what do you have to say for yourself? What brings you here?"

Vala shrugged, "I guess...I don't know...I like you people...Most of you, anyway." She said, knowing that response would not be satisfying to them, but it was worth trying.

"Are you here to stay?" Sam asked, from the other side of the table.

"I guess that sort of depends on you all, doesn't it?" Vala asked, slowly.

"We all want you to stay, but the truth is, I'm not so sure that's possible any more. The IOA isn't going to be thrilled and ready to welcome you with open arms." The General informed her, seriously.

"After everything you've done, you can't exactly think there's going to be a huge party saying, 'Welcome back! I don't care you've just stolen from hundreds of helpless families' !" Came Alice's angry voice from the other side of the table.

There was an icy silence that followed her words, as all eyes turned towards her.

Daniel really disliked Alice at this moment. They'd always gotten along well, and had become good friends in the past three years, but she really didn't know when to shut up, did she?

"I hate to say this...But she's sort of right," Mitchell said after a silence, "I want you back just about as much as the next guy, princess, but you can't just walk away and then just expect things to be peachy."

"I didn't say that I expected it to be..."

"So what did you expect?" Doctor Griffith asked, anger in her voice.

"You're right. I don't know what I was thinking, I apologize, I'll leave." She said, getting to her feet.

Daniel jumped to his feet as well as if to stop her, though he wasn't really sure what to say.

"Vala, we don't want you to leave," Sam spoke for the first time since her arrival, "We all want to be able to immediately trust you, to welcome you home, but it's...hard."

"Indeed," Came Teal'c 's voice, his response quiet and calm.

Vala didn't sit back down, she just looked around at them all, without saying a word. What could she say?

There was a long silence, which was, finally, broken by the General who said, "Vala will be allowed to stay for a couple of days at least until everything is sorted out. Dismissed," The General got up and left, and was followed by most of the team, but Daniel stayed behind.

"If you were just going to come back..." Daniel said slowly, as he sat in his chair again, "Why did you leave at all?"

Vala sunk into her chair as well, after a moment of hesitation. "I had some things I had to do, before I could stay,"

"Want to fill me in?"

"Not really," She said honestly, and there was a silence for a moment.

"I miss you. Nothing was ever the same after you left, it was like part of our family was gone," He said, breaking the silence.

"So, that's it, huh? I'm like your sister." Vala said, trying not to sound too disappointed.

"No," Daniel said, holding her gaze with an intensity that made her look away, "Not at all,"

"I'm leaving, Daniel, no one wants me here. I don't know what I was thinking when I came back--"

"And what am I? Chopped liver?" He shot back,

"You know I don't understand these earth phrases, Daniel," Vala said, annoyed.

"I mean, I don't count for anything? The fact that I've done nothing for the past three years except wish for you to come home means nothing?" The frustration and sadness in his voice was evident.

The way he said 'come home' made something in her ache, but she said, "That's very sweet, Daniel, but that's not enough. Just because you want me here doesn't mean I'm going to be allowed to stay. And no matter how much you mean to me, I don't want to be surrounded by people who hate me just because theres one person who doesn't."

"Everyone else wants to have you back for good too, Vala, I'm not the only one who wants things to go back to how they were before."

"Not everyone..."

"Forget Alice, everyone else wants you here," Daniel insisted, how could she not realize how much they all needed her? How much he needed her? "Besides, what does she know, anyway? Alice doesn't even know you, she's just judging you, but everyone else understands, Vala! They're just hurt...They felt betrayed when you left, they missed you, we all wanted you back."

"I wanted nothing but to be back..."

"So stay," Daniel pressed, "You can earn the trust again, Vala, you can do it. I know you, and I know that you can...Please, for me?"

"I would jump off a cliff for you, Daniel Jackson." She said, looking away from him.

She didn't realize right away that he'd risen from his chair and was now kneeling on the ground next to her own chair, he held out his hand for her, and she took it, hesitantly. His other hand was touching her cheek, gently, "I would never ask you to do something so stupid," He teased, his voice quiet as he gave her a soft smile.

Why were there tears in her eyes? She couldn't figure out why she was crying all of the sudden.

"There's something you should have known a long time ago, Vala..." Daniel's voice wavered slightly, and he felt himself near tears, surprisingly, as well.

Then he kissed her, and for a whole moment, she felt safe and content for the first time in three years.

The moment was shattered, however, when the door to the briefing room opened, and Vala and Daniel's eyes snapped towards the doorway.

Alice was standing there, mouth open as if she was trying to think of what to say, "Wow," She looked at her watch, "Twenty minutes. She's been here twenty minutes...And I thought you had some self respect, Daniel. Wow." She rolled her eyes, and left the room, door slamming shut behind her.

Author's Note: Well, I hope you enjoyed that! I don't know how long it'll be until I update, but I'll try to hurry! There's not much left to our story, perhaps a couple more chapters :) I know what needs to happen I just don't know how many chapters it'll take to do it, because this was supposed to be the last one, but with all I need to sort out it'll take longer then one chapter....So, stay tuned! Reviews are loved.