Man Hunt
spacegypsy1
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Chapter Three
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Vala tried to rush out of the infirmary the minute Carolyn released her.
"Wait!" Carolyn called out, catching up with Vala in the hall. "Slow down. Please try to stay off that leg as much as possible over the next few days. And be here tomorrow morning for a checkup, or I'll send security after you. Understood?"
"Yes, understood. May I go now?"
Carolyn waved a hand and turned back to check on her remaining two patients.
Limping as fast as she could down the corridor and into the elevator, Vala nearly bit a hole in her cheek to relieve the pain throbbing in her wound. For the brief ride down the elevator, she leaned against the wall, taking the weight off the aching leg. When the doors opened, Vala scurried out and headed for Landry's office.
Once her mission there was accomplished, Vala headed for Daniel's office. When she approached, she slowed her pace, fluffed her hair, licked her lips, and screwed her face muscles around to take some of the pain induced tension away. Ready, she calmly walked in, hiding her limp.
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When he spotted her, Daniel stood, tossed his glasses carelessly on his desk and slammed his hands on his hips. He'd taken hours to think it through, and he knew what he had to do. "I'll do it! But...no more missions together. Ever! And...and, no more...er...gods, Vala! This is insane. You conjured up this whole scenario to get me to commit!"
"Well, aren't you just the martyr! I did nothing of the kind! And I won't have you! I need someone who actually likes me! Thanks for the charity offer, but I must decline!"
Daniel deflated like a popped balloon, folding himself back into his chair, head dropping as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
Voice a bit shaky from the pain, and with effort to hold back her emotions, Vala spoke with as much venom as she could muster. "I've decided! Though I haven't changed my mind about a husband, that I'm going to one of those sperm shopping places, and I'm having Jack named as the sole guardian, and I'm going to play the field, sleep around – protected sex of course – until I find the right man. And...and I'm going to get my own place, and a nanny, if I can afford one, and I can't find a husband soon. I'm going to live happily ever after either way. Oh, and by the way, I just got permission to move into Sam's lab to work - permanently! So there!" She pivoted on one foot and limped out.
Daniel stared at the empty doorway, mouth open. Finally, he closed his mouth, picked up his glasses and put them on. He just sat there wondering what in the hell had happened to his normal life. Suddenly he threw the glasses back on the desk. "Shit," he mumbled under his breath, once again snatching up his glasses.
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Now she'd done it! Told everyone she was on a man hunt, which she was - but she discovered somewhere on the way to finding him that the only man she really wanted was Daniel. Vala did something she rarely did; she threw herself across her bed and cried her heart out.
Once she got her sobbing toned down to mild, intermittent weeping, she realized something important. She really did want children, and a home...and maybe a husband. Was she prepared to give up loving Daniel to have that...and the answer was yes.
Vala sat up, wiping the tears from her face. Daniel was her friend. Her teammate. Her mentor, so to speak. They would eventually get over this fight, like all the others. They would be friends again. And her broken heart would mend. Smiling, though her lips quivered, Vala pulled a pillow to her and stuffed it under her shirt. Yes, a baby could mend a broken heart. Lying on the bed, tears rolling slowly down the sides of her face, Vala placed a hand on the pillow under her shirt, and fell asleep.
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Mitchell opened his eyes at Daniel's throat clearing. The man looked like hell, but Mitchell didn't feel a bit sorry for him. "Ya know, Jackson, I coulda sworn you were in love with Vala. I can't believe I was wrong about that. But you are her friend and I think you should talk to her. Teal'c went to check on her once he got out of Lam's torture chamber here, and he came and told me she was in her room, cryin'. I can't go – Lam threatened to tie me to the bed...though there for a second or two I considered that might be a good thing...Lam tyin' me up."
Daniel sat on the bed across from Mitchell's, shoulders slumped and head down. "I am."
Squinting at the archeologist with one eye closed tight, Mitchell groaned. "You 'am' what?"
Eyes lifting and a sheepish smile creeping across his mouth, Daniel whispered, "In love with Vala."
"Jackson, I've taken a whole lot of medication today, and some of it has my brain all fuzzy. Can you go over that one more time? Cause I gotta tell you, that doesn't make a lick of sense."
"I wanted to support her in this crazy new scheme of hers. I wanted to let her go on with her life, but when it came right down to it, I froze. Vala having someone else's children. Vala with another man. It scared the hell out of me. But not as much as the thought of Vala having my kids, and then us dying on some planet and leaving them all alone."
"None of us who ever have any kids will worry they'd be left alone. We've got each other's backs, Jackson. No one gets left behind...or alone. Besides, O'Neill is the 'grand' Pappy of them all. He'll make sure they're all happy."
They both grew quiet when Carolyn came in to check on her patient.
When she started fussing around with his IV drip, Mitchell protested. "Doc! Please. I can barely hold a conversation now, don't turn up the juice. I've got a situation here I need to concentrate on."
"I doubt antibiotics and fluids will break your concentration. What little you have." She patted his arm, peeked at his wound, smiled at Daniel, and walked out of the room.
"Damn, she's fine." Mitchell grinned at Daniel.
With a smile, Daniel nodded in agreement. The smile faded quickly and he looked down at his hands. "It's tough. Being...without parents."
"Fortunately, I wouldn't know, but did you ever consider the fact that Vala's practically an orphan herself? She takes the high road and you take the low road."
"Meaning?" Daniel didn't look up.
"Meaning, Jackson, she wants a normal life...her version of normal. She wants kids. The princess will jump off that cliff all by herself even after all she's been through. She lost Adria...though she insists that she was only a vessel for that one. Man, how many times did you look in Vala's eyes and know she was hurting losing that...child? She lost that baby the day the spawn of the Ori was born and she had to suffer through that while Adria ran around callin' her 'Mother'. And still Vala wants kids."
Daniel stood suddenly. "God! I've been such a fool."
"That's what I'm talkin' about! You're right, man, you've been a fool. I don't know if you can...ow...fix that. Crap. Call that pretty little witchdoctor back in here. OW! I think I acted a bit foolish myself. I need some juice." Mitchell squeezed his eyes tight in pain.
~TBC