Title: Just Another Day in Paradise
Author: dvshipper
Rating: G (will probably go to a PG in later chapters)
Spoilers/Warnings: One faint reference to Sam/Jack
Summary: SG-1 travels to a tropical climate planet that has everyone relaxed, except Teal'c, who knows there must be something more sinister about the team's calm attitudes.
A/N: Thanks to Lisa Michelle for being an awesome beta on this! This is going to be the last chapter of this story unless I get an overwhelming response that demands an epilogue. So if you want more, just review and I'd be happy to write an epilogue. Thanks to all of you who reviewed and read this. Your encouragement means a lot. Anyway, on with the show!
Chapter 4: Unexpected Findings
Daniel saw Teal'c go back to the village after dinner was over. The locals seemed to be pairing off and quietly slipping back into the huts as well. After about an hour, Daniel and Vala were the only ones left on the tranquil moonlit beach.
The fire had burned down to smoldering coals, leaving the couple to the slight chill of the breeze. Vala leaned her head on Daniel's shoulder, feeling both electricity and comfort in his touch. "Daniel, you know what I think?" Vala prompted quietly.
"Hmmm?" Daniel responded, eyes closed and breathing in the flowery smell of Vala's hair.
"I think you love me," she said plainly.
"Oh really? You think so?" He grinned playfully. "I do."
"I love you, too, Daniel," Vala turned her head up to meet his sparkling blue eyes. He leaned down and caught her lips in a soft, caring kiss. Her mouth eagerly returned the gesture, adding more passion with the use of her tongue. Daniel's hand came up to cup her face as the kiss became rougher and deeper. Tongues explored, hands roamed, small moans escaped.
Daniel had the tiniest point of doubt in his mind, telling him his actions would be regretted. This was however, only a faint whisper. What his brain, or more accurately, his body, was telling him was to take Vala right there on the beach. Daniel had no choice but to listen to that yelling voice and gently lay Vala down on the sand. It was obvious they were both going to have fond memories flood their minds when they next heard the sound of waves.
Sam awoke with a bit of a headache and bright sunlight streaming through the open door of a hut. It took her a moment to realize where she was, but once she did her lips turned up in a grin. Sam turned over to look into the face of the man who had been her lover last night. "Good morning," she whispered as she ran her fingers through his dark brown hair.
"Good morning, beautiful," he mumbled, still half asleep.
Sam got up and dressed to search for some breakfast. For some reason she had been dreaming of running her fingers through silver hair and in the dream she heard a voice say, 'Sam, leave now.' Taking it as just a silly dream, she brushed it aside into the corner of her mind along with the creeping feeling that something was wrong. Those thoughts were forgotten when she smelled fresh bacon cooking over an open fire.
Vala opened her eyes to see a masculine and familiar arm across her stomach. The sky was blue above her and the waves of the tranquil ocean were lapping at the shore. On her back she could feel the warmth that was Daniel. She grinned, remembering the events of the night before. "Daniel, darling, it's time to wake up," Vala quietly whispered as she leaned her head back beneath Daniel's chin.
"Too early," he replied, pulling his arm tighter, bringing Vala even closer to him. He felt the vibration of her chuckle tingle all the way to his core.
"You don't even know what time it is," Vala replied moving her hand to cover his on her stomach. If ever she was granted one chance to relive a memory, it would be lying with Daniel on the warm alien beach, just relaxing with each other.
"Yes I do, it's morning which is too early," he said, his lips hovering dangerously close to her neck.
"Even too early for coffee?" Vala questioned playfully.
"Just stay here a while," Daniel whispered, lowering his lips in a feather light kiss on her pink skin. Daniel worked his way slowly to her earlobe, where his teeth grazed across her flesh gently. He stopped to quietly tell her what he planned to do if she stayed instead of making coffee. Clearly Vala like that idea because her body shivered even in the warm sun.
As soon as he awoke, Teal'c was wide awake, never one to be groggy. He rummaged purposely through his pack and his fingers grasped around the object of their quest. Teal'c brought the vial of tretonin to inject into his wrist, feeling the familiar sting of the small needle. A realization then hit him, as if there was a light bulb above his head being turned on.
"ColonelMitchell! ColonelCarter!" Teal'c yelled as he ran into the middle of the village. He was unsure where they ended up spending the night, but he was certain they would be able to hear his call. He watched Mitchell stumble out of the small hut on the edge of the group.
"God! T, what's your problem?" Mitchell asked, clearly annoyed as he squinted in the bright light of day.
"Give me your wrist," Teal'c ordered, taking control of the mission. He took Mitchell's wrist when the colonel got close enough and injected him with the tretonin.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Mitchell jerked back at the poke of the needle.
Teal'c didn't respond, but instead took the silver tube and turned to see if Colonel Carter had come out yet. When he saw that she hadn't, he called her name again.
"That's it, I'm dreaming, because you would never be this crazy in real life," Mitchell said, following Teal'c and pinching himself.
Teal'c continued until he saw Colonel Carter emerge from a small doorway with a confused expression. "What's going on, Teal'c? I was hoping to go back to sleep," she told him as he approached.
Teal'c said nothing as he reached for her wrist and pressed the tretonin under her skin. He ignored her obvious displeasure and asked if she had seen Daniel and Vala since the night before.
"Last I saw of them, they were on the beach looking pretty cozy," Sam replied.
Teal'c ran down onto the beach to find that there was no one there. If they had been in the village they would have come out when he called the colonels. Vala wouldn't have slept in the forest, so where could they be? Teal'c scanned the shore looking for anything that he might have missed. To his surprise, he saw a light, slender hand reach over and grab onto one of the larger logs that sat on the beach. A few seconds later he heard a very loud voice moan, "Daniel!" accompanied by the visible hand tightening its grip on the wood. Apparently, Teal'c had found them both.
"DanielJackson! ValaMalDoran!" Teal'c called to them, cautious about approaching should he be interrupting something.
"Yeah, Teal'c, whatever it is can hold on a minute," Daniel's voice came from behind the log, sounding as if he was out of breath.
"Indeed it cannot," Teal'c replied sternly.
"Indeed it can," Daniel stated stubbornly.
Teal'c saw Vala's hand on the log disappear and then heard a muffled series of grunts from Daniel. It was clearly a good thing Teal'c hadn't marched over to them before because apparently he would have gotten quite an eyeful. He walked up next to the log, keeping his gaze on a palm tree in the distance. "Inject this into your wrist, both of you," Teal'c told them, handing down a vial of tretonin from his vest pocket.
"What? Why?" Daniel responded confused. Vala remained unusually quiet, most likely because she was busy kissing Daniel's neck.
"Trust me," Teal'c replied simply. Daniel took the vial from Teal'c's hand and injected some into Vala's wrist eliciting a small 'ow', then putting some into his own wrist. Daniel handed back the vial, as if to ask if he could get back to more pressing matters. Teal'c began to walk away when a feminine giggle reached his ears.
"Hey, Teal'c, did the locals spike the coconut milk or something?" Mitchell asked, confused at the situation. The two men were gathering up the team's gear to go back to the SGC. After Teal'c had given him the tretonin his mind felt clearer, like a fog had been lifted. He knew he had his judgment back when the woman he had spent the night with kissed him. Mitchell tried to gently tell her he didn't love her and that he couldn't stay. That went over well. Mitchell now had a very sore cheek.
"No, ColonelMitchell. I believe the source of your impaired judgment is a device they call the Guardian," Teal'c explained as he clipped his backpack to his vest.
"That stone statue, right? Should we disable it?" Sam joined the conversation as she stood by Mitchell. She had had quite a difficult time trying to leave the man who she had woken up with. Sam didn't want to hurt him, but she also couldn't have him thinking they were a couple. When Teal'c had given her the injection it was like she had been woken up from a dream, but the last twenty-four hours hadn't been a dream. She remembered it all too clearly.
"I do not think that is necessary, ColonelCarter. It does protect these people. Anyone who comes through the Stargate most likely experiences the same relaxation as you did. tretonin seems to heighten the immune system enough to counter the effects," Teal'c told the two colonels. He was glad to have his teammates back in their right minds.
"Good point. So we leave the device and get the hell outta Dodge before this tretonin wears off and we become hippies again," Mitchell said, putting his own pack on his vest.
"Wait, where are Daniel and Vala?" Sam asked, looking around.
Daniel and Vala were walking up the beach back to the village to join the rest of their teammates. The tretonin had kicked in for both of them, but its effects were minimal. Sure their judgment was more present, but they didn't regret anything they had done while still under the influence of the planet. Actually, this little trip had been just the thing they needed.
"Hey guys! Over here!" Mitchell called to the couple when they came into sight. It looked to him like they were still under the influence of the Guardian because they were smiling and holding hands.
"You think they're okay?" Sam whispered to Mitchell and Teal'c, staring at the approaching couple.
"I hope so, because I don't want to have to explain to Landry why they're acting like teenagers," Mitchell also didn't want to explain to General O'Neill why his favorite archaeologist was brainwashed.
"Ready to head back?" Daniel asked soberly as he and Vala joined their teammates. He picked up Vala's pack that had been with the rest of the team's gear and gently snapped it onto the back of her vest.
"Thank you, darling," Vala said quietly as she ran her fingertips along Daniel's cheek, gazing into his azure eyes. A smiled graced her lips and she turned back to the team, who all had expressions of confusion. "Yes, let's get to the gate. I'm ready for some familiar food."
"You both took the tretonin right?" Mitchell asked, getting a nod from both Daniel and Vala.
"And you feel….normal?" Sam asked and got a nod in response.
"Okay, but you both are getting doubly checked over by Doctor Lam when we get back," Mitchell ordered. "I think we all should."
Daniel rolled his eyes and grabbed his backpack as they started the trek back to the gate. Part of him wanted to stay for a few more days on that beach, spend a little down time away from work. The other part of him said that he had a ton of work to do and that this was no time for a vacation. Daniel knew one thing for absolute certain though and that was that none of them were looking forward to writing the mission report on this one.