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 8: Madness

Vala let go of Daniel's supportive arm and limped her way to the stargate. With one last sad gaze at him, she stepped through the gate.

Daniel watched as Vala disappeared through the wormhole and sighed. He was really hoping to have her with him in case he needed back up on the other planet. However, she would not be much help with a bad ankle, so he let her go back to Earth.

Once the wormhole had disengaged, Daniel quickly dialed the gate address that the old woman had given him.

He stepped through the gate and once on the other side, was immediately greeted by a throng of people bustling around a small village.

He stopped one of the men as they passed by. "Can you take me to Healer Gana?"

The man gave him a strange look. "If you wish," he said as he showed Daniel to a crumbling, thatched roof house close by in the village. "Don't know why you would want to see that crazy old bat, but here you go."

Daniel thanked him and knocked loudly on the thick wooden door. The old lady, Gana, better be ready to hand over the cure. He didn't go through all that trouble finding the Shashana gem for nothing.

Footfalls sounded on the other side of the door and it slowly creaked open to reveal the old woman, disheveled looking and squinting at the sight of Daniel.

"You! Do you have my gem? No way you got it!"

Daniel smirked and pulled the gem from his bag. Gana's eyes widened. She reached out with one gnarled hand to grab for the gem.

Daniel pulled away quickly. "Not so fast, I want the cure first." He slid the gem safely back into his bag.

She frowned at him. "Fine, fine, a deal's a deal. Come inside and I will get it for you." She held open the door and Daniel entered the small house.

She showed him to a living room of sorts and gestured towards a chair. "Sit there and I will go retrieve the cure for you, might take me a few minutes."

She walked down the hall leaving Daniel sitting in the chair.

He was busy worrying about Cameron and Vala when he heard the front door open and a voice call out. "Mother?"

Soon, a tall woman, probably in her late thirties, entered the living room. "Who are you? Where is my mother?"

Daniel swiftly stood up. "My name is Daniel, your mother went to get something for me."

The lady stepped closer. "Well, I'm Neona, her daughter. What exactly is she giving you?" She narrowed her eyes at Daniel, clearly suspicious.

"She has the cure for the disease that my friend has contracted."

Neona's face fell. "No she doesn't."

Daniel looked at her in shock. "What? Isn't she a healer? Didn't she discover a cure for the illness that ravaged this planet and that other one?"

The lady sighed and shook her head slowly. "She was a healer years ago and she still goes by that title, but about ten years ago she slowly became mad. She is no longer a healer, she hasn't found a cure for anything for a long time."

Daniel was outraged. The old lady had lied to him and Vala and now poor Cameron was probably going to die! "You mean I went and got this gem, risking my life as well of the life of my friend for nothing?"

Neona looked at Daniel in shock. "The Shashana gem? You actually found it? I always thought that that was just a story my mother had made up."

He carefully removed the gem from the bag and showed it to her. "I have it right here, but I am certainly not going to give it to her without the cure she promised me. She was all over the dead bodies on the other planet. How did she not contract the disease?"

Neona gave Daniel a strange look. "She didn't eat the fruit."

Daniel was extremely confused. "Fruit? What fruit?"

"The people on the other planet died from a disease that was caused by eating the fruit of a plant infected by a certain parasite. No one on any other planet ever got sick."

Daniel's mind was trying to process what Neona was telling him. "But...but, my friend, he got sick and is dying and he never ate any fruit!"

"Well, whatever happened to him is not the disease on the planet, I promise you that. My mother probably just led you to believe that so you would go get her the gem. She has been obsessed with obtaining that gem for as long as I can remember."

Daniel was furious. "What am I going to do?"

Neona gave him a small smile. "I think I may be able to help you. Before my mother went crazy, she taught me all about healing. I know quite a few remedies and I could come with you to your world and try to help your friend if you wish."

He gazed at her dubiously. "Why should I trust you? You might be just as mad as your mother!"

She shook her head. "No, I'm not, and as an act of good faith, I will attempt to help your friend for free. So you can keep the gem, I'm sure you could trade it for almost anything."

"What about your mother?" Daniel glanced down the hall but didn't see any sign of the old woman.

"Let's just go now, she will be angry but will probably just go try to trick someone else."

Daniel followed her out of the house and into another one next door. There, Neona gathered loads of supplies to take with her to Earth.

The pair carried the items to the stargate and Daniel dialed Earth.

Soon, he was back at the SGC with Neona and her medicines in tow. General Landry and Vala, with her ankle wrapped up, were there waiting for him.

"Daniel! You made it back!" Vala grinned widely at him and hobbled up the ramp to hug him.

He was happy that she seemed to have forgotten about there argument.

That was, until she saw Neona. "Darling? You brought a woman home with you?" Vala's smile turned into a deep frown.

Daniel quickly made introductions to Landry and Vala, explaining what had happened with the old woman and the supposed cure.

Vala's face turned from angry to worried. "No cure? But Mitchell is doing worse!"

Neona spoke up. "Can I see him? I think I may be able to help him."

General Landry quickly led her to the infirmary, leaving Daniel to deal with Vala.

"Daniel, I was thinking..."

He groaned inwardly, he didn't think he wanted to know. "And?"

She continued. "You were right, what we did, you know in the temple, it was just a heat of the moment thingy, nothing serious."

Daniel was surprised at her words, but then he saw that she couldn't meet his gaze. She kept her head down and was shuffling uncomfortably on her good foot.

He knew that he should tell her the truth, that it had meant something to him, that she meant something to him. However, taking care of Cam was the priority right now. He would tell her when the time was right, if he ever got up the nerve.

"It's okay Vala, let's just take care Cameron."

She nodded and the two of them went down to the infirmary to see how Neona was doing with Cameron.

End of Chapter 8. Reviews are appreciated as always!

-J