Author's Note: I believe this is the last chapter that I posted back in 2007. Everything after this point will be new to everyone.

Also, as I've said before, research is not my strong suit. I have no idea if the hyperdrive or communication stuff makes sense. I reiterate, this is is a romance story set in an adventure, and I freely admit I'm terrible at writing adventure sequences.

Anyway, now that that's out of the way, please enjoy. :)

Chapter 12

Late on the third night, they woke to a soft scratching. Reaching under their pillows, both Vala and Daniel pointed their weapons towards the door. It opened to reveal Ber and Kira walking in, wearing cloaks and carrying dimly lit lanterns.

"Child! Dear child!" Kira rushed over to Vala's side and hugged her tightly as Vala handed her zat to Daniel.

Kira released Vala after a few moments of flowing tears, then attacked Daniel with similarly fierce hugs and kisses. "Oh, you wonderful, wonderful young man! I'm so happy you were able to rescue Vala. I've been so worried for the two of you."

"Kira, dear, they are fine, as you can see." Ber put his hands on her shoulders and helped her up from the bed so that Vala and Daniel could get up. "It's not like last time. They are hale and whole. See?"

"Yes," Kira nodded. "Vala, we are truly sorry for not being there to help." Her eyes filled with tears again as she trailed off.

"There was nothing you could have done, Kira. I understand." Vala stood before Kira and took both the older woman's hands in hers. "Truly. I don't hold either of you responsible, nor Denya and Seevis."

Kira nodded again, but still remained worried. "And the baby? Can you tell if it has survived?"

"I…" Vala started. "The movements I feel aren't as frequent or as intense as before."

"Sit down, then, child." They sat together on the bed. "Tell me how you feel. Any pains? Cramps?" Vala shook her head as Kira splayed her hands on Vala's abdomen. "If you'd lost the baby there would be blood. Your body would expel the baby." Kira looked up once more to Vala and smiled. "And there is movement. It's possible the baby is just recuperating, as are you." She nodded. "Yes, if there have been no pains or blood, I do believe the baby has survived. It is a relief, surely."

Vala nodded mutely to Kira, then stole a glance toward Daniel. They really hadn't talked much about her pregnancy in the last two days. And there was at least one incident that she hadn't told Daniel about. Her frightful dream.

Vala watched as Kira moved from the bed and began to light candles around the house. Daniel spoke with Ber near the window as they both kept watch for any others of the resistance who would be joining them tonight. Vala stood up and got herself a drink of water.

Her dream could have been just that, a dream. But it had seemed so terribly real. And it served as the only explanation for her pregnancy, that the Ori had somehow impregnated her. That somehow they were responsible for the baby growing inside her. Relief that the baby was alive was not an emotion she could admit to feeling. But neither could she vocally admit that the baby wasn't hers and Daniel's. Somehow, Vala just knew that Ber, Kira, and the other members of the resistance would not react well to the knowledge that her baby was, for lack of a better phrase, 'the will of the Ori.' Not to mention Daniel. While he'd probably love to hear her report to one and all that the baby wasn't his so that they could drop this charade, the truth would not be a welcome or useful alternative. What difference would knowing the baby's origin make to their escape from this galaxy? Vala was good at keeping secrets, this one would just have to be kept a little longer. And besides, maybe it wasn't so. Maybe the dream had been just a dream. Just her tortured body's way of conjuring a frightening enough image to help keep her from slipping into a hunger- and thirst-induced coma. Maybe.

By this time, Seevis, Denya and Panos had arrived and all seven of them were seated around the table or leaning against the walls. Kira had made tea and was passing around cups and mugs. Ber was the first to speak.

"Panos, please tell us what you learned on your reconnaissance mission."

"Ships are being constructed with all speed. Our village is one among dozens on this planet, and there must be dozens, or maybe hundreds, of worlds where the same things are happening. Our people are preparing for a war, a crusade against a nameless, faceless enemy."

Panos stopped briefly as he glanced at Vala and Daniel, then continued, "There is to be a mission shortly. A scout ship is scheduled to embark for the skygate in order to ensure that the one here in our galaxy and the opposite one are both operational. We men at the construction grounds were told of the mission a week ago and I volunteered immediately. The scout ship will be ready in two days, at which time, I'll fly the ship to the skygate, dial its twin, and attempt to establish a bridge. Then I'll go through the gate, take preliminary star readings, and return." Panos smiled around the room finally resting his eyes on Daniel and Vala. "It seems like the perfect opportunity to get the two of you home."

Daniel found Vala's hand under the table and squeezed it tightly. She squeezed back, just as happily, but she still had some concerns. "Does the ship have an interstellar or an interplanetary drive?"

Daniel caught on and nodded. "The formation of a skygate requires the creation of a black hole. It's possible the resulting shockwave may have destroyed any nearby planets with other stargates. And even if it didn't, the nearest planets might not even have stargates on them, so we'd need the ship to have the capability of traveling to nearby star systems in order for us to ultimately get home."

Vala finished the explanation, "If the ship doesn't have that capability, we could find ourselves in our own galaxy but still stranded."

The others around the room nodded in understanding. Unfortunately, Panos shook his head. "I don't think it has the ability for interstellar travel yet. That is still a couple of months away. The test is merely to prove that the skygate in your galaxy is operational."

"Well, what about long-range communications?" Vala asked. "Is there a beacon or anything like that onboard so we could at least get a message to our people?"

Everyone turned to Panos for his reply. "Yes, the communication array is quite advanced. I believe we could use it to send a message."

Vala nodded to Daniel. "That will have to do for now. We shouldn't use it unless it's fitted with some sort of hyperdrive."

Daniel agreed. "We'll need to think of a message to send. Ideally we'd like to warn Earth about the impending crusade—"

"But we might need to be a bit more pithy, don't you think?" Vala teased.

"Yeah," Daniel gave her a half smile, then spoke to Panos, "we don't want anyone suspecting anything if they run diagnostics when you return."

"Could you hide something in background noise?" Denya asked.

Vala tilted her head towards Panos. "Maybe if I had a look at the engine schematic, I could program a slight hiccup, bury a signal in the static."

"I just so happen to have some plans with me," he offered. "Before I knew about you two, I took these thinking the rest of us could use the information for possible sabotage."

He sat down next to Vala and handed over a data device. She skimmed over the plans, figuring out some of the ship's inner workings. "Yes," she finally nodded towards the engineer, "I think I can tell you how to utilize the background engine static." Then she looked at Daniel. "What will the message be? 'We're still alive. Ori supergate here. Don't destroy it just yet.'" Vala raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that seems pithy enough, might even want to send the IDC as well, just so they know it's us."

Vala nodded in agreement and turned back to Panos with instructions for modifications.

"In the meantime," Ber spoke up, "you should probably stay here in hiding. Seevis, tell them what you know."

"What happened?" Daniel asked. "Were there any consequences because of me rescuing Vala?"

Seevis looked down into his mug. "The prior returned yesterday. The village was still gossiping about Vala and who could have helped her escape. Many believe it was you since you're no longer in custody at the construction grounds." Seevis lifted his head then cocked his neck to the left and right, seemingly working out a kink. "The prior approached me and demanded details. He asked whether the messenger, who was surely sent to find him, had been injured or delayed in any way. He questioned why I didn't post a guard on the woman to prevent such an unfortunate occurrence." One of Seevis's hands came up to his throat and rubbed it. "He commanded that men search every home as well as the surrounding forest for signs of you both."

"Will his mistrust in you damage the power you've gained over the villagers?" Vala asked, looking up from her work with Panos.

"I doubt it. Most likely it will only strengthen their belief that no one is above the priors or the Ori. I will still be able to inspire fear in the villagers but recruiting any to our cause will be more difficult." Seevis looked more closely at Vala then. "Incidentally, can you think of any reason why the prior would focus on you so intently? Why he would want you found even though I've used this tactic before with suspected unbelievers and have gotten little grief in the past?"

Daniel glanced at Vala and they both shrugged in confusion as Vala replied, "I suppose the prior might suspect who we are, and possibly the threat we pose."

Seevis simply nodded in return. "Well, it's only been one day since the searching began. It's possible the prior will abandon it once Panos's mission is successful and they need to focus on completing more ships."

"Maybe we should try to stay a step ahead of the prior, in any case," Daniel suggested. "Is there anywhere else we could go? Ber, you said there were other safe houses used by the resistance."

Ber nodded, "We have five in the immediate area—"

"Six if you count Nic's house," Kira interjected.

"Absolutely not, Kira," Vala shook her head vehemently. "We are not endangering your family any further."

Denya placed a hand on Vala's arm. "All the safe houses have cellars like this one, even Nic's. You can live with them comfortably for a few days and if there is any reason to hide, you will be completely safe."

Vala still shook her head. It was a terrible idea.

"A few of the safe houses are on the way to Ver Obdur." Ber asked for the map he'd given Daniel and they spread it on the table. "You could spend a few days at each, always moving, always out of the prior's reach. And by the time you get back, perhaps the scout ship's hyperdrive will be operational."

Daniel nodded. "After Panos returns and can let us know if the mission was a success, we'll leave for the next safe house." He squeezed Vala's hand. "We may or may not go to Nic's house, but we'll always keep moving, no more than a week at any location."

An hour or two later, Daniel and Vala were lying in bed not even pretending to sleep. The others had left in three groups, and the two of them were left in the safe house, going over the details they'd all discussed at length. One thing in particular, stuck out in Daniel's mind and he couldn't help replaying Seevis's revelation.

"Incidentally, can you think of any reason why the prior would focus on you so intently? Why he would want you found even though I've used this tactic before with suspected unbelievers and have gotten little grief in the past?"

"Vala," Daniel spoke, knowing she was still awake. "I think the baby is mine."

Vala rolled over to face him, wide-eyed. "Say that again."

"I had a dream in between beatings. I was in the Doci's chamber back in the city of Celestis and the Ori told me that they had impregnated you. That they used my DNA and yours to make the baby. Probably while we were converted into energized molecules in the rings' matter stream, I would guess."

"And you believe this dream?" she asked incredulously.

"I've seen and believed in far stranger things in the past nine or ten years."

"Stranger than a bunch of power-mad beings on another plane of existence impregnating me to…" she hesitated and made a questioning kind of face, "did they happen to tell you why they did it? Maybe just to see if they could?" She raised an eyebrow, apparently trying to lighten the tension.

"The baby is their Orici," Daniel confessed, "the one to lead all on the Path to Enlightenment."

Vala blinked, then sat up slowly and clutched the covers closely to her chest, staring blankly across the room. "I'd thought so…or at least suspected…but I wasn't sure. I didn't want to be right."

Daniel sat up and put his arms around her when he saw her shiver. "It's all right. Relax. We probably have years to raise it and teach it something other than Origin. As long as the child is with us, the Ori and the priors won't be able to use it against us and our galaxy." Vala shook her head against his chest. She was again being used by power-mad beings with god-complexes and Daniel was only now beginning to understand what that felt like.

"The crusaders will still come. I don't see how making me pregnant is going to help them win this war. It's got to be one of the stupidest ideas I've ever heard of, and believe me, I've heard of quite a few. None come to mind at the moment, but I'm sure I've heard of a few good ones."

Daniel laughed slightly into her hair as he held her close. "I'm sure you have." He continued to calmly stroke her arms and back. "Everything will be all right, you'll see. You'll get through this. We'll get through this together." He pulled her closer to him, curling himself around her as they sat up in bed. He raised his hand to her cheek so slowly, then brushed his palm over her skin gently.

Lifting her head, Vala looked into Daniel's eyes. She then lowered her gaze to his mouth, then further lowered it to his chest. All of a sudden she was disentangling herself from his arms. "You want to hear a really stupid idea? Having sex with a woman impregnated by power-mad beings from another plane of existence in order to comfort her. Now that's a stupid idea if ever I heard one."

Daniel stuttered a bit as he sat up straighter in bed, mirroring her posture opposite him. "I…I wasn't thinking about…I wasn't trying to get you to have sex with me…"

"Daniel."

He followed her line of sight down to his waist and he gathered the blankets around himself, awkwardly hiding his current hard-on. He honestly hadn't noticed because he'd been practically half-aroused for the past few days anyway.

"Fine. Point taken," he admitted. "But I wasn't thinking of sex, well not immediately. But I was thinking of how strong you've been these last few months, and really, how strong you've been since I met you. I don't feel lust or simple physical attraction to you." He reached out and cupped her face in his hand. "You are attractive, your whole being. What's happening to you is awful and I wish I could take it from you, but since I can't, the only thing I can do is try to comfort you, to try to make things easier for you."

"Daniel…" But he smothered her words with a kiss, a tender, gentle kiss meant to soothe and calm. He let his tongue slide over her lips to assure her he was sincere, to show her he cared, that he wanted this.

"Stop." Vala tugged on Daniel's hand to release her face and lightly pushed him away from her. "I would give anything to not be pregnant right now for the simple fact that I cannot enjoy this with you when I know you are simply kissing me out of pity. I don't need that. I don't want it. I'm…I'm more than your charge or your ward." Vala scrambled out of the sheets and stood up when Daniel tried to reach for her again. "You have no idea how much I want this, you really don't. But not like this. I want it to be on my terms. When we get back to Earth there will be plenty of other people to watch over me. Your doctors and scientists will probably have a field day with me, and you'll stop feeling like you have to protect me. Then all this will be over and as strong as you think I am, I won't be able to handle that. I won't be able to handle you not wanting me anymore." She sighed. "So as much as I'm kicking myself right now for saying this, please don't kiss me again." Vala looked down at him and her eyes pleaded with him to understand.

"Yeah, of course. I'm sorry." Daniel threw off the sheets and stood up. "I don't know what I was thinking."

"Daniel," Vala said softly, "I didn't mean to—"

"No, you're right. I don't know what came over me." Daniel grabbed for his pillow, set it down on a chair near the kitchen table, then walked over to the cellar's entrance. "I think there was an extra quilt downstairs. You can have the bed tonight."

"Daniel."

"It's all right. I'm fine, just go to sleep. It's only a few hours 'til dawn anyway."

"We don't have any chores, we can sleep in. Daniel, come back to bed. There's plenty of room. I shouldn't have said anything. Daniel!"

He had lifted each plank covering the entrance to the cellar and was about to climb down the ladder, but he jerked his head up to face her as she spoke.

"Listen to me. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for my little speech to sound like a rejection of you. It was a rejection of this whole damned situation. I appreciate what you feel for me and what you've done for me these past few months. Just please, come back to bed." She paused. "Besides, whatever blankets you find down there will most likely be ice-cold and you'll be terribly uncomfortable sleeping in a chair. I don't want that hanging over my head."

Daniel stood on the ladder and thought for a moment. He had to admit that he was kind of hurt by her rejection, but it also should have hurt that she could be emotional then logical in the span of five minutes. It should have sent warning signals to his brain that he was being rather emotional and irrational about this whole situation, too. But whatever he was feeling, he didn't define it as feeling hurt. He did, however, acknowledge that he was getting used to the feeling. Getting used to the idea that Vala was a strong, capable, logical woman. He set the floorboards back in place, retrieved his pillow, and settled into bed. Vala followed and lay down on her side facing away from him.

She probably wouldn't believe him, but he felt like he should tell her anyway. "You know how you said before that I had no idea how much you wanted this?"

"Yes."

"You have no idea how much I want it, too." Vala was silent during his confession. "It's not going to change when we get back to Earth, how I feel about you, that is."

Vala just sighed. "We'll see." Daniel turned on his side to face her as she continued, "If I were actually pregnant with a child, I admit that I might be less harsh in my assessment of your feelings. But the thing is, I'm carrying an Ori-human hybrid and as much as I believe you can forgive just about anything, I don't think you'll be able to forgive this. I believe what you're saying, I believe you really are feeling something strong for me. I simply hesitate to believe that those feelings will continue after we return to Earth and the baby is born."

Daniel stared at her for another moment before replying. "You obviously know nothing about me, then." And with that he turned completely over on his side facing away from Vala and closed his eyes. Exhaustion was not far behind.

Further Author's Note: Ok, yes, I pulled them apart again. And again, I honestly don't know if Vala would behave this way. Vala from "Prometheus Unbound" and early Season 9 probably wouldn't, but hopefully I've conveyed enough of their growing relationship to show that she now wants more than a fling with him, and that she honestly doesn't know if he wants a real, full-blown, actual relationship as well.

I will remind you once again, the story is finished, and there is a romantic happy ending, so don't throw rotten fruit just yet. Patience is a virtue and all that. ;)