For everyone who wanted to know what Teal'c would say to Daniel! Please review and let me know if you think this is in character for the two men.

The SGC

She wasn't in the commissary. He even checked the back tables, in case she had chosen to sulk out of sight. She wasn't in the gym, or in Sam's lab, and he didn't feel up to breaking into the women's change room.

Next stop was Teal'c's quarters; on more than one occasion she had taken refuge there. He felt a little restless admitting that she may have required refuge, and tried to console himself with the thought that nothing got Vala down for long. Happy go lucky was her modus operandi... but he found himself shifting uncomfortably at the memory of the look in her eyes when he'd snapped at her.

"Hello..." Daniel popped his head round Tealc's open door. "Anyone home... oh, hi Teal'c."

"Daniel Jackson." Teal'c inclined his head, and continued to pack the bag on his bed.

"Um," Daniel craned his neck further in through the door, sweeping his eyes across the room, as if Vala might suddenly yell BOO and jump out from behind the chest of drawers.

"Um, you haven't seen Vala, have you, Teal'c?"

"Indeed I have." Teal'c continued to pack his belongings neatly away. He lifted a robe from the top shelf of the wardrobe, and folded it neatly. "She came to see me two hours ago."

He added the robe to the case, and turned to face Daniel, who had come into the room, and was shifting from foot to foot. Teal'c's impassive expression did not give much away, but the archaeologist had spent over ten years on SG-1 with the big Jaffa, and he wasn't fooled. He heaved a big sigh. Evidently he had some making up to do.

"Was she upset? She wanted me to have coffee with her, but I really did need to get these translations done. Sam's due back on Luna Base Alpha tomorrow morning, and I want her to have these with her when she leaves."

He came further into the room. "The Asgard really cracked the theory of oxygen generation - the translations are extremely technical and..."

He tapered off. Teal'c's expression hadn't changed. Much. Daniel would swear the curve of his mouth was tilting downwards in displeasure though.

"Look, Teal'c, I'll make it up to her, take her shopping tomorrow, buy her something pretty. She never stays upset for long."

Somehow, this statement had made it worse, not better. Teal'c spoke, and his voice was gruff.

"Vala Mal Doran is not a child, Daniel Jackson, to be fobbed off with the promise of a new toy for good behaviour. Neither is she a kitten, to be made happy by having shiny baubles dangled in front of her."

Daniel felt rebuked, but made an attempt to get back on top again.

"I'm very well aware of that, Teal'c; I'm the first person to acknowledge how useful she's been to us here and how much work she has done since she arrived..."

He was cut off.

"But you do NOT acknowledge her as person, Daniel Jackson - you do not credit her with feelings and emotions as valid as your own. She is right - you do not see her, merely the image of her you have fixed in your mind. This is deeply unfair, Daniel Jackson!"

With dawning astonishment, Daniel realised that Teal'c was angry with him. This was more than just a case of mild displeasure on Vala's behalf.

"I," he began, and was again cut short, this time by the click of Teal'c's suitcase, as he slammed it shut. Turning, he addressed his friend.

"She has left, to work with the Tok'ra. Although she has an IDC, she has made no definite plans to return."

Daniel looked stricken. He opened his mouth once or twice, but no sound came out, and Teal'c took pity on him. His voice, when he next spoke, was gentler.

"She has said she will return, but she did not say when. The Tokra need her expertise with a Goa'uld dialect they are unfamiliar with."

Daniel nodded; there seemed nothing left to say. He turned to leave, lifting a hand in a half hearted farewell.

"Daniel Jackson."

Teal'c's tone was low. When Daniel turned his head, he saw that the Jaffa was looking at the floor, his hands clasped in front of him. There was a pause, and then Teal'c returned his gaze, his eyes troubled.

"I, too, have lost a wife, Daniel Jackson. I know what it is to feel as though a part of you is lost forever. It is very easy to believe that that loss can never be redeemed, too easy to lose yourself in what is gone, and never again be open to the possibility of another love developing."

Teal'c swallowed hard.

"I do not believe that that was what Drey'auc would have wished for me. When I am with Ishta, I believe I am not dishonouring her memory, rather I am living my life as fully as she would have wanted." He heaved a deep, deep sigh.

"I believe, too, that Sha're would wish this for you." His eyes scanned Daniel's face.

"It is not easy to be open to the possibility of a new love, Daniel Jackson, but it is worthwhile. This I can promise you."

He stretched out his arm, and clasped Daniel's shoulder, squeezing once, then exited the room quickly. The younger man was left staring at the bag on the bed with unseeing eyes. Unseeing eyes, but new thoughts in his head. Teal'c's work was done.