Title: The Journey

Summary: Daniel and Vala are on a race against time to save a dying Cameron.

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate.

Chapter 5: Mind Games

He ran his fingers along the right side of the wall until he found a smooth spot among the roughness of the wall. He pressed on it and the wall broke apart before them, unveiling two tunnels ahead.

One tunnel veered left and the other right. In between was a small section of wall with an inscription written on it.

Daniel walked over to it and wiped the dust from the writing. "It says: Choose the correct tunnel on your journey to the Shashana gem. One tunnel leads further into the temple, the other tunnel leads to certain death. Choose wisely, because once you enter either tunnel the entrance will be closed off forever."

Vala bit her lip nervously. "I don't like this, how are we going to get back through all of this if the tunnels close behind us?"

Daniel sighed. "Well, I'm hoping that there will be another, easier way out once we find the gem."

"I sure hope so darling, now which tunnel?"

Daniel looked around for any hint about which tunnel to choose but found none. "I have no idea, there does not seem to be any indication as to which one to choose."

Vala looked frustrated. "Well I say the tunnel to the right."

Daniel looked at her skeptically. "Why that one?"

She gazed back at him and shrugged. "I don't know, I just have a feeling that that is the correct one."

"Well, I learned my lesson in that maze, I trust your judgment."

Vala looked at him in shock. "You...you do?"

He gave her a sincere gaze. "I do."

The pair hesitantly ventured into the tunnel to the right. As soon as they were both completely inside, the tunnel began to shake violently as a wall blocked out the entrance.

Vala let out a puff of air. "Well I certainly hope that I was right."

"Me too," mumbled Daniel as they made their way through the tunnel.

His mind began to drift off as they traveled. He thought of how crazy his life was. Just a few years ago, he didn't even know Cameron or Vala, and now they were both vital members of SG-1 and two of his best friends. He never would have guessed that the sneaky space pirate who tried to hijack the Prometheus would be here with him, trying to save their friend. She had definitely made some major life changes and he was immensely proud of her for that.

He was still in thought when he heard Vala scream.

He turned toward her. "What's wrong?"

She ignored him, staring into the space in front of her, a look of shock playing across her face. "Adria?"

"Adria is dead Vala." Daniel didn't know why Vala was acting so strangely.

Again she ignored him. She was talking to the air. "No, you're...gone. I saw Morgan Le Fay defeat you! No! Go away!"

Daniel was confused. Vala was hallucinating or something. He went over and pulled her into his arms. "Adria is gone Vala. She isn't here. Whatever you are seeing isn't real."

She crumbled in his arms, gripping his shirt and sobbing loudly. "I swear I saw her! She...she..." Vala trailed off.

Daniel slowly rocked her in his arms. "Shh...it's okay. I promise that she is gone. It will be okay."

Vala drew away from him a bit. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

Daniel held her at arms' length. "You okay to continue now?"

She nodded. "Yes, I think maybe the tunnel is playing mind games with me. If you see anyone besides me, don't believe it."

"Okay, I'll take that into consideration."

Daniel and Vala continued their trek in silence for the next half hour. The tunnel seemed to go on forever, but nothing seemed to be happening. All of the sudden Daniel saw somebody standing in the distance. He was sure that the person was just a hallucination, especially when he saw that the person was Sha're.

"Daniel! What are you doing here with this woman? You are my husband!" Sha're looked at Daniel angrily.

He shook his head and squinted his eyes closed. "No, no you are not here. I am just hallucinating."

Sha're stepped closer. "I am very much here! I see you with her. I see the way she looks at you...my husband!

"No, you died, many years ago."

Vala shook Daniel. "Snap out of it darling! It isn't real!"

Vala's shaking caused the image of Sha're to fade away.

"Daniel? Who did you see?" Vala cocked her head to the side in curiosity.

He was still trying to shake his dead wife's image from his head. "Sha're. She was yelling at me for being here with another woman."

"Stupid temple! It made us hallucinate, who knows what it will do next?" Vala threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

They soon found out. Daniel and Vala had only started walking again for about fifteen minutes when it started. The voices.

At first he thought that it was just his own mind speaking to him, but his own mind never morphed into more than one voice, voices of his friends. The voices were telling him all kinds of terrible things.

"You are a horrible teammate and friend! You will never get back in time to save me," said Cam's voice.

"You should quit SG-1 before I am forced to make you resign," piped up the voice of General Landry.

Sam's voice resonated next. "You are so stupid Daniel, look at you falling for Vala when everyone knows that she just wants to have sex with you. Well, you and almost every other guy around. You do know that she had sex with Cam when they went to Kansas for his high school reunion right?"

Daniel had had enough. "Stop!" He put his hands over his ears, yelling loudly.

Vala snapped out of a trance-like state to stare at Daniel. "Are you hearing voices too?"

He nodded. "They are basically telling me what a bad person I am."

"Me too. You think it is just the temple playing tricks on us again?"

"Boy I hope so. Either that or we are both going crazy at the exact same time, which isn't likely."

Vala slumped to the ground. "I'm very tired. Can we rest for the night?"

Daniel joined her. "I think that is a good idea, we have had enough for one day."

They both got ready for bed, pulling out their sleeping bags. Once settled in, Daniel turned to Vala. He was curious about what Sam's voice had told him.

"Vala?"

"Hmm?" She opened up her gray eyes.

Daniel couldn't quite keep her gaze. "Umm, I was just wondering. Uh...did you and Cameron...umm do anything when you went to his school reunion?"

An odd look passed over Vala's face. "What do you mean?"

Daniel sighed, she wasn't making this easy on him. "I mean like...were you two...uh...intimate with each other?"

Her eyes widened considerably. "Intimate? Do you mean did we have sex?"

He nodded.

"Oh hell no! Are you crazy? Me and Mitchell? That was a long time ago, what brought this on?"

Daniel decided to be truthful with her. "Well, one of the voices said that to me, I just had to know if it was true or not."

She shook her head so hard that her wild black curls flung around her face. "Definitely not true! Now that we have cleared that up, let's get some sleep okay?"

"Okay, goodnight Vala."

She leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Night darling."

End of Chapter 5. Reviews are appreciated.

-J