Chapter 18 A Different Ending.
Dr Carolyn Lam had arrived onboard the George Hammond an hour or so previously, to take a report from thechief medical officer. After taking notes and checking the reports and records she came out of the office to check on the patients in the small infirmary.
Vielkah was recovering well from her injuries – her Tok'ra symbiote undoubtedly doing it's job. Several Jaffa and warriors were crowded onto other gurneys and mattresses – a couple of the less severely injured even sharing the same trolley. More were spread along the corridor that led out of the infirmary – Carolyn checked a couple as she moved along.
Eventually she found who she was looking for – Colonel Mitchell laying flat out and snoring gently, on a blanket close by the wall.
The doctor, smiling, crouched next to him and pulled back the charred material of his BDU pants. All signs of the horrific blast burns were gone – clean, un-scarred flesh was the only thing visible. She patted his thigh gently.
"Not here, sweetheart," Mitchell grinned sleepily up at her.
"Stop it!" Carolyn shushed him with a finger against his lips, but couldn't prevent the tiny smile which tweaked at her own. "Go back to sleep."
"If you say so." Mitchell closed his eyes again as she moved away.
Carolyn shook her head. Men.
Next to the Colonel lay Daniel, tucked in by a huge pile of equipment and sound asleep. His head lolled to one side, arms still wrapped tightly around Vala who sprawled untidily across him, her tangled blonde curls streaming everywhere. Their legs were entwined so closely that Carolyn could hardly tell who's were who's.
Sam appeared alongside her, as the doctor stood smiling down at them.
"Cute couple, huh?" the Colonel smiled.
"About time," Carolyn replied, wryly. She looked at Sam closely. "Isn't it time that you were off resting somewhere as well?"
"She's on her way," Jack sauntered past, and tweaked his annoying smirk at the two women. He turned Sam with one hand, without breaking his stride, and carried on moving towards the commander's quarters. "Say goodnight, Carter."
Sam gave in and allowed herself to be hauled away. She was too tired to do anything else. "Goodnight, Carolyn!"
The doctor grinned. She was just happy that they were all back again, more or less unscathed. Aware suddenly of a tugging sensation on the bottom of her white coat she glanced down.
A pair of bright, summer sky blue eyes looked up at her. "You wanna grab a coffee?"
Carolyn tipped her pretty nose up into the air. "I'm working, Colonel Mitchell."
"No you're not. Everyone's asleep." Scrambling to his feet, he dusted his filthy jacket down as best he could. "C'mon – you like coffee, dontcha?"
Carolyn's face was expressionless. "You know that I like coffee, Cameron."
She'd called him Cameron. He had her. Mitchell pinched her chin, his honest face open and friendly, eyes clear like azure.
Suddenly flustered beyond comprehension, Carolyn looked left and right, planted a swift, soft kiss on the Colonel's extremely kissable mouth, before scurrying away in the direction of the commissary.
Mitchell, slightly overwhelmed with his sudden good fortune, hoped that the CCTV was off-line, before high tailing it after her.
o – o – o – o – o – o –
The George Hammond arrived home the following day and successfully disgorged all of it's personnel, equipment, Tok'ra, Jaffa and prisoners.
Sam, who much to her husband's disgust, had snored next to him for the whole of the previous night was up and in command, looking revived and perky.
Jack shook his head at her as she passed. "Exactly how often do we get to spend a whole night together?" he asked, sighing. "With us working at opposite ends of the galaxy?"
Sam grinned, eyes twinkling. "You're retired," she reminded him. "Supposedly!" Flicking one of the dials she began to tap on a keyboard. "Anyway," she added, trying to disguise another smile, "I'm free tonight, if you're interested."
"Yeah," Jack rolled his eyes. "I have to share you with the other guy tonight though!"
Sam chuckled. The thought of cuddling her small son again was delightful. "JJ will be in bed by 7.30. Then I'm all yours!"
Jack leaned back in his seat, eyes dark and calculating. "I look forward to it," he told her, voice low.
Sam stood up and walked away across the bridge. Another minute next to her husband and she'd be dragging him off to her quarters, command abandoned. Luckily a transmission from General Landry came through on the radio as Jack hauled himself to his feet and moved away. But not before he'd nibbled his wife's neck as he passed.
Sam gave a little squeak.
"I beg your pardon, Colonel?" Landry sounded startled.
"Nothing sir." Sam's cheeks were like two rosy apples. She was hugely glad that the General couldn't see her. "Just – er – bitten by a mosquito."
Hank watched the CCTV relay from the interior of the Hammond as Jack headed off of the bridge. "Ah," SGC's commander couldn't stop his grin. "I see. Carry on!"
o – o- o – o – o – o –
Mitchell, Daniel and Vala were all in the infirmary having their post-mission check over.
Mitchell grinned every time that Carolyn came into view.
The doctor had performed a sterling job of ignoring the Colonel but Daniel - in the adjoining cubicle - had been more than a little perplexed by one or two unusual noises which had emmanated from behind the screens at one point.
When Carolyn had re-appeared she had looked distinctly pink in the cheeks.
Daniel caught Vala's eye – she was grinning like the Cheshire cat, lying on her side with her head propped up on one hand. She raised her eyebrows at him.
"Stop it," he told her.
"Me? It's not me. I'm not doing anything – it's those two! You'd think they'd have sorted it out by now wouldn't you? After all of the years they've worked together."
Daniel's gaze softened and he reached across to catch her hand. "Not necessarily," he told her, in a voice which wobbled slightly. "Sometimes people are too – they can't – don't know it's in front of th-."
Vala shot off of her trolley and onto his, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.
The archaeologist needed no encouragement to return the embrace. A few minutes later, when the two of them had managed to keep their lips apart for long enough to breathe, he smiled down at her, happier than he had been in many, many years. "Some people just need a Naquadah generator up their backside to get moving!" he said succinctly.
"Well, you still have a very nice backside darling." Vala patted it gently. "I'd like very much to be married to it!"
"We can hear you," Mitchell's voice filtered through the screens around the bed.
Vala bit her lip grinning.
Daniel kissed the end of her nose before springing off of the trolley and pulling Vala upright. "Are we free?" he called to Carolyn, who had retreated into Mitchell's cubicle again.
"Yes," her reply was slightly muffled.
"Mess hall?" Vala's face was hopeful, eyes bright.
"Mess hall." Daniel dragged her off in the direction of the elevators.
There was silence for a moment or two.
"Now," Mitchell, holding a remarkably pliable and dreamy looking Carolyn in his arms, stroked one finger softly along her jawline and grinned wickedly. "What was that you were saying, Dr Lam?"
o – o – o – o –o – o –
Later the same afternoon the team bid good bye to Vielkah and the rest of the Tok'ra.
"Thank you," Vielkah held Vala at arms length, but with real gratitude in her eyes. "The whole mission was saved because of you."
"Ah, pffft!" Vala flapped her hands dismissively. "Anybody could have flown that old bucket of screws and spanners and bolts."
"But 'anybody' else didn't." Jerrun spoke up. "We could not have beaten Athena without you. Accept it. Accept our gratitude."
"Well, if you insist," murmured Vala, embarrassed. Her face turned quite a pretty shade of pink.
Daniel chuckled, before deciding to rescue her from all of the adulation.
"What will you do now?" he asked the Tok'ra contingent.
Vielkah frowned in the direction of an extremely agitated and grumpy-looking Athena. "We will take the Gou'ald to our homeworld to be charged with her crimes," she replied. "Then the symbiote will be removed from the host. It will die instantly."
"Good." Daniel replied.
Vala folded her arms, nodding. Her eyes were hard, the color of granite. "Very good," she said.
Daniel shoulder nudged her. "You okay?"
"Of course." His beloved blinked, and the fierce expression on her face dissipated. "Absolutely."
"Can we come and watch?" Mitchell asked, off handedly.
Vielkah bowed slightly. "It would be an honour."
Then the Tok'ra moved off - away up the ramp towards the Stargate, the Alpha site, and their sole surviving Al'kesh which was being given an overhaul in the off-world facility.
"I suppose that I should go too," Vala said wistfully, looking after them. "Go with Muscles, I mean, when he leaves for Dakara. I mean, my Tel'tak is there."
"I'll come with you," Daniel told her, softly.
She shook her head. "You have work to do here."
He shrugged back at her. "No – I'm over in Atlantis now, remember? And as I recall -." he frowned over at Mitchell, "this was supposed to be my vacation! Wasn't that why I was on the Hammond in the first place?"
Mitchell grinned. "And how are you enjoying yourself so far?" he asked.
Daniel looked at Vala, standing with her hands in her back pockets, blonde curls tumbling everywhere, eyes twinkling. "I'm enjoying myself fine, thanks," he replied.
"Then come with me," Mitchell indicated with his head, over towards the spiral staircase and Landry's office. "I got me an idea."
o – o – o – o – o – o –
"So.." Daniel asked, as he and Vala sat in the mess hall early that evening, "…you're okay with this?"
His beloved nodded around the huge spoonful of ice-cream that she'd just maneuvered into her mouth, eyes wide and merry. "Nnngghhuhhmm."
"Excellent." Daniel poked his apple tart half heartedly. He paused before looking up at her again. "Sure?"
Vala gave a huge swallow. "I'm sure." Then she looked worried. "Are you sure?"
"Of course. It's just – you know – you might start to feel tied down.." Daniel shrugged, trying to pretend he wasn't holding his breath a little.
Vala smiled, shaking her head. "I didn't feel tied down before. I loved being part of the SGC. It's the only place that really felt like home to me in a long time." She frowned. "You left first."
"Did not!" Daniel looked up indignantly.
"Did too! You went to Atlantis. You left me behind."
"You didn't say that you wanted to come with me!" Daniel looked confused, eyes widening.
"You didn't ask me!" Vala growled, frowning.
"You always said that Atlantis was just a big boring city in the middle of a giant boring puddle!" Daniel gave back as good a glare as he got.
"Well it is! But I would have put up with it – if you were there." She pointed at him. "You left me."
Daniel quietened. He reached across the table and tugged gently at one of Vala's blonde curls. "I did, didn't I?" His face was still, watchful.
The expression in his eyes suddenly made Vala want to cry. "Doesn't matter," she said thickly, and shook her head.
"It does matter." Daniel grinned ruefully, dropping the blonde strand of hair and taking her hand in his own. "We were both as scared as each other. Right?"
Vala nodded, smiling hazily. "Right." She huffed a giggle. "Indeed."
"So – are you up for this – thing – that Mitchell's got going then?" Daniel's thumb began to rub backwards and forwards across the back of Vala's hand
She shivered.
Daniel continued. "Official consultants to the SGC? Specialists in archaeology, Gou'ald technology and language, and the Ancients?"
"I like the sound of 'consultant'," Vala rolled the word off of her tongue. "Sound's respectable."
"You are respectable." Daniel smiled at her, so proud. "Think of all your children. You're their role model."
"Yes, well – ahem," Vala blushed slightly, embarrassed.
"I'm sure Laylun would agree with me," Daniel's grin widened.
"Well, at least his card playing was up to scratch," she remarked, thoughtfully. Her young protégé, following the fall of Athena, had returned with the Tok'ra to their homeworld. "It'll be interesting to see if Vielkah and Jerrun can play poker next time we meet them!"
"Stop right there!" Daniel warned, before pulling her to her feet and out of the mess hall. "The thought of the Tok'ra running amok in the galaxy playing poker is not one that I want to dwell on!"
"Spoil sport," pouted Vala, but let him drag her off in the direction of the guest quarters, where the archaeologist kicked the door shut behind them with a loud bang, and proceeded to make up for all of the lost time that he and his space pirate had been apart.
TBC...
Posting the epilogue straight after this. Thanks for reading!