Wow, got busy this week. I'm sorry I haven't updated LB:SG-1 or RU again yet, I just need to find time where those chapters will come more easily and let me write them--which is hard when I have almost no time at all, and this weekend I have a wedding in the family to go to, including all the rehearsal stuff the day before, which is tomorrow. Oi. Well, I mean its still a good thing, it just takes time. Anyway, I'll shut up now and let you read a chapter. Please review. :) Thanks; have a great weekend!

Chapter 6

"I can't believe we have to postpone our next mission to look for a rabbit," Vala huffed loudly.

"Well, you know, we might find it more quickly if you weren't so loud," Daniel scowled. She sighed and brought her voice down.

"Sorry."

Daniel shrugged, and she caught the wince that accompanied it. "I'm not necessarily happy about this either, but we have to make sure no-one sees it."

Vala nodded silently, and they walked on quietly for several minutes. She kept a close eye on Daniel as much as she did on the forest floor; he was still making faces when he turned or bent too much.

"How are you feeling?" she asked finally.

He straightened. "What? Oh…" He rubbed at his chest subconsciously. "I'm fine. Doctor Lam let me out of the infirmary, didn't she?"

Vala crossed her arms. "That doesn't mean you're completely healed."

"Well obviously it's going to take a while. I almost got fried to a crisp by that Ancient whatever-it-was."

She snorted derisively. "Because of course you couldn't go to Atlantis even once without being captured by aliens and nearly killed."

"The nearly killed part wasn't their fault," he pointed out.

"Oh, and that's supposed it make it so much better?"

"Is there a point to this conversation?"

Vala hesitated. "I'm not really sure. I just…wanted to be sure you were all right."

Daniel stopped at that, and for a long moment he wouldn't look at her. Finally, he faced her with a small smile. "I'm just sore, really; I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

Vala blinked at him for a moment. What? It was nice, but that wasn't like him at all. Sure, it seemed like he'd had to stop and think to make himself say it…but he'd done it. She couldn't figure out why. Had yet another brush with death actually made him think about a few things?

"You're welcome," she said quietly, and smiled back.

It didn't take long for Daniel to turn around again and keep walking. "Come on; I think there's a clearing up here." She sighed and followed him.

It wasn't a clearing exactly—just a gap in the trees that was a little bit bigger than usual. There was no break in the canopy of foliage above their heads, and a boulder sat beneath the trees. Vala stood in one spot and turned around slowly, looking for any sign of the escaped creature they were looking for. She hoping to see footprints, a rustles in the bushes, maybe…

She didn't expect the pained human scream from behind her.

Vala spun back to where see had last seen Daniel, but he was gone. The bushes near where he had been standing were just barely moving, as if falling back into place from someone pushing through them quickly—much too quickly.

"D-Daniel?" She went to where he had been, and peered past the trees. She couldn't see anything but more woods. "Daniel?" Hands shaking, she keyed her radio. "Daniel, where did you go?" Nothing. "Daniel, can you hear me? Daniel!"

A horrible sense of dread settled over her, though she didn't know why. She didn't want to think about why. "Daniel!" she shouted, spinning frantically in her place. "Daniel, where are you! DANIEL!"

Vala jerked awake to the sound of a screaming alarm clock, beeping angrily at her from the nightstand. She slapped it into silence and fell back against her pillows. It was only in the last year that she'd begun to use the alarm feature regularly—to save her from her nightmares.

Even after everything she had been through, it wasn't until Daniel had disappeared that they had become unbearable.

She swallowed hard and picked up the digital clock. Vala stared at it for a long moment. Maybe they would go away soon. Daniel was back now, after all. Today she would see him.

She flipped the alarm switch off.

"Ah ah, no you don't! Let me make sure you're presentable."

Daniel stopped at Alice's voice behind him, and turned around reluctantly in the driveway. "I'm not wearing jeans."

She came to a stop next to him, near the end of the Cullens' long driveway. She cocked her head at him, looking him over closely. "Good, you remembered a jacket—you're learning fast," she nodded, seeing the coat in his hand, "And you're wearing the right clothes again for once too, but you need to tuck your shirt in. It is a button-down, after all."

"You didn't make me tuck it in last time." The parallels between his complaints and that of a schoolboy arguing with an adamant mother were not lost on him, and he couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Last time it wasn't a date," Alice grinned, eyes twinkling.

He snorted. "It's not a date this time. We're just meeting so we can see each other again…at a planned…time…" He frowned when he realized that explanation didn't differentiate it from a date at all. He could hardly use his old excuse; a vampire meeting a human woman could hardly be called two-friends-out-for-dinner. He sighed in frustration. "Whatever it is, why does it matter?"

"You should always look your best for a woman when you're planning to meet. Last time you weren't sure if you would see her. That's the difference."

He groaned. "All right, fine." He tucked the dark grey shirt into his khakis and pulled his belt a little tighter. "There. Happy?"

"Much," she smiled.

Daniel smirked a little. "Why aren't you this hard on the rest of guys?"

"They're already married," Alice answered brightly. "Now go get her."

"No more warnings?"

She looked at him for a long moment. "You don't need to be told twice. If you love her, you'll keep her safe." She tossed him something, and if he had been human he wouldn't have known what it was until he caught it and looked. Now, he saw in midair that it was her keys—in the split second it took for her to toss them and him to snatch them out of the air.

"Go in my car," she told him. "There's less chance of anyone seeing anything strange." She started to back toward the house again, and winked. "Good luck."

There was more spring in Vala's step as she hiked through the woods that morning than she remembered having in the past year combined. For once something was working out for her—not just for her friends. She'd lost Tomin when he left, then Daniel when he disappeared, and she hadn't seen Jacek since they'd outsmarted him on a scam and he'd run off. She'd been beginning to wonder if there was any point to anything anymore.

That wasn't the case anymore.

This time Daniel was already there when she arrived. Vala saw his back first; he was standing near the rock, waiting.

"Daniel!" She called from several yards away, but she ran instead of waving. He turned and caught her in his arms, effortlessly spinning once with her to diffuse the energy she'd run into him with.

With the strength she felt in his arms, she doubted he really needed to do that; that only made her appreciate the gesture more. Either he was trying to seem as human as possible for her, or he was that happy to see her. She'd take either answer willingly.

"Hey," he smiled.

Out of nature Vala went for his lips, but stopped when he tensed almost imperceptibly. She kissed his cheek instead. "Sorry…"

"It's okay," Daniel answered in embarrassment, looking away.

"You can put me down now," she smiled.

"What? Oh…" He gently set her feet on the ground, and took a couple of steps back. "So uhm, how are you?"

"Fine. Let's get going."

He gave her a once-over. "Not until you tell me why you're wearing a skirt."

"All right, then why is your shirt tucked in?"

Daniel winced. "Fine; we're even. Come on, I drove this time."

Vala fell into steps beside him as he led her back to wherever he had parked said vehicle. "Besides, it's only blue-jean—and it's actually a skort, I believe the strange word is. Trust me; after nine month of wearing nothing but dresses in the Ori galaxy, I'm not going back to skirts so easily," she grinned.

"I see…"

They walked in silence for a few more minutes, until she couldn't take the quiet anymore. "Isn't there a faster way to get to there?" she asked suggestively.

He looked at her quickly. "Uhm, well, I didn't know if—"

"Of course I want to try it. The road isn't really that far, anyway." She stepped up to him. "If you think you could handle having me on your back, I'd like to see how fast you really are," she grinned.

Daniel thought about it for a long moment, looking rather uncomfortable.

"Come on," she encouraged, and nudged him.

"All right," he relented. "But no questions if I stop."

He meant he would have to stop if her scent against him became too much. Hopefully, with the air blowing past, they wouldn't have that problem.

"Agreed," she nodded.

"Fine," he sighed, and turned around. He started to stoop down before she stopped him.

"No need for that; I've had plenty of practice." With that Vala took a couple of running steps, wrapped her arms around his neck, and jumped up. Daniel caught her legs and held her up while she got a better grip on his neck. "There, see? Not a problem."

She heard him smirking. "Do I want to know why that's second nature to you?"

"Probably not," she laughed in his ear.

"I didn't think so. Hold on." He took a couple of quick steps, broke into a slow run, and then the woods around them blurred to a degree. If she hadn't grown a strong stomach over the years, it might have made her dizzy. She knew enough to about aerodynamics to keep her head close to Daniel's body, but from there she was watching the trees go past in fascination.

It didn't last as long as she would have hoped, and soon enough Daniel stopped and let her drop to the ground. "The road's right up here," he told her.

Vala glanced behind them at the woods they had just come through. "That was fun. I wish it wasn't so cloudy, though."

"If it was sunny I wouldn't be here."

She turned back to him. "What? Don't tell me it bothers you. I don't think I could handle another cliché like that," she smirked.

He shook his head and led her down a gentle slope to a small gravel lot beside a rural road. "No, it doesn't bother me at all. It just…gives vampires away."

"Oh? How so?"

Daniel smiled at that. "It's hard to explain without sounding ridiculous. Maybe I'll just come long enough to show you sometime."

The only car in the lot was sleek and bright yellow, and Vala forgot her curiosity as she searched the area around them for another vehicle. She stopped looking when Daniel pulled out a set of keys and pressed a button that unlocked it. "Wait…is that really what you're driving?"

"It's not mine; Alice made me come in it," he admitted, opening the passenger-side door. She shrugged and climbed in. Daniel closed the door and was in the driver's seat beside her almost before she could blink.

"I don't know much about Earth vehicles, but if I'm not mistaken, this is a very nice car," Vala observed.

Daniel started the car and pulled out. "Did I mention that the Cullens are rich? They've had a lot more time than the rest of us to save money, and they don't have to buy a lot of things humans need, either."

"I suppose that would help. Is there anything else I should know? I don't suppose you really sleep in a coffin, either."

He shrugged. "I don't have to sleep at all anymore, actually."

Her eyebrows went up. "Really?"

"Yeah…it was kind of hard to get used to at first."

Daniel didn't seem to have much else to say yet, so Vala rolled the window down and enjoyed the rest of the ride in a comfortable silence, until he parked in the back of the lot at a small grocery store down the road from his house.

"We'll have to walk from here," he explained, getting out.

Vala shrugged and followed him out of the car. "How are we getting in when we get there?"

He pulled a small black lock out of his pocket for a moment, and then shoved it back in again. "I went by the house before I went back to Washington last time, and took a look at the locks. I bought a duplicate of the one on the cellar door so we can get in whenever we need to without leaving anything broken that might be noticed."

"Perfect," she grinned.

They walked down the street that ran behind Daniel's house instead of the one in front of it. As they did, Vala felt a sudden urge to link arms with him and pretend as if she wasn't sneaking into a locked house with a vampire. As much as she had never been normal, all of a sudden she realized that part of her wanted normalcy.

It hurt to remember that she had to resist the urge. She didn't want to push his self-control, or make him too uncomfortable…They had just found each other again, and she didn't want to scare him away. After all, maybe he was different now…but he was still Daniel beneath the physical changes.

Vala stopped when she caught sight of the cellar doors, once they had slipped between houses up to the back of his. "Well, it was a good plan while it lasted."

Daniel tensed and looked around. "What?"

"The lock. The original is still there; how are we supposed to get in and replace it if you haven't cut the first one off yet?"

"Oh, that." He relaxed. "That's easy." With that he stooped down beside the cellar doors and grabbed the lock. In once quick movement, he had pulled it off in two pieces.

Vala blinked. "Oh."

Daniel smiled, and she savored the sight that she had missed so much. "Come on," he said, and held out a hand. He opened one of the cellar doors with the other, and she took the one he was offering. He helped her down old wooden steps to the cellar floor, then dropped to the ground beside her and closed the door over them.

Vala shivered. "It's cold in here." It wasn't any better upstairs, either.

"Sorry, I'll get a couple of blankets from the closet."

"All right…" She sank onto the couch and curled up against one of the armrests, folding her arms around her coat. It was chilly outside because of the season, but it was even colder in here—probably because it had been shut up for so long. None of them had had the courage to go through anything here yet, still holding out a secret hope that he might come home.

She snapped out of her reverie when she felt something soft and heavy drape over her, and looked up to catch Daniel throwing the blankets over her. He tucked them close, and she pulled them to her gratefully. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. I'm sorry I couldn't do any more about that, but it would have raised too many flags to have the power turned back on." He winced. "I'm sorry I didn't think about it; I should have brought something portable I could run off a battery, or made a generator—"

Vala stopped him before he could beat himself up any further. "It's all right, Daniel. I'm fine." He sat in the armchair beside her place on the couch, and she reached out to touch him arm briefly. "I'm just glad to be here."

Daniel swallowed, and she pulled back.

"No, it's not you," he said quickly. There was an uncomfortable pause, and then he stood up quickly. "You know what? This shirt is coming untucked; I feel ridiculous." He pulled the shirttails out and sat down again.

"Good. I like it better that way."

He stared at her. "You have a preference."

She smirked. "I'm a woman, Daniel. Of course I do. In my opinion, the formal look isn't really you."

"Try telling Alice that."

Vala leaned a little over the side of the couch. "Yes, when am I going to meet this vampire family of yours?"

Daniel hesitated. "You can't," he said finally. "Alice is the only one that knows about you."

She frowned and sat back. "What do you mean? Why?"

"Because of the Volturri. You remember what I told you about them, don't you?"

"Of course; but I don't understand. You're friends aren't these vampire royalty."

He spoke slowly. "No, but as far as I've heard, the Volturri have many ways of getting information. The fewer people who know something that should be kept from them, the better."

"Oh. Brilliant."

"I'm sorry…"

Vala sat for a long moment, staring at the unmoving television and the shelves around it. "It's fine," she said finally. "It's not your fault. I suppose it doesn't matter, anyway."

More silence.

She climbed out of her seat, pulling the blankets around so they draped over her from her back and she could keep them around her. "What's that?" she asked. She pointed to a wooden statue half her height that stood next to the television shelf.

Daniel stood behind her. "Why do you ask?"

Vala glanced around curiously. "Well, I've never spent much time here, and never alone. Now that I have he chance, I might as well find out what all of these wonko little things are." She grinned back at him. "It's not as if we have much else to do this time, with no electricity. I doubt there's still any food here, either."

"Probably not," he grimaced. "I can't eat it, anyway."

"Why not?"

"It tastes like dirt."

Vala snorted in amusement. "Oh. Garlic doesn't happen to taste particularly worse, does it?"

"I wouldn't know, but I've been told that's a myth as well. Most of the popular elements of vampire legend are, actually."

She turned to look at him for a moment. "Does that mean you don't mind it so much? Besides the not coming home part?" Daniel's mouth opened a fraction, but it quickly snapped shut again. He looked away, and she could see his jaw working over something.

She wisely decided not to push the issue.

"All right, just tell me what this guy is then."

Sam had to run to catch up to Cameron in the corridor. "Hey! Have you seen Vala?"

"What?" he turned, saw it was her, and shrugged. "Not today. Why?"

"She's disappeared again."

"She's probably in the woods again."

"But she hasn't been out there in two weeks," she protested.

Cameron nodded. "And I don't think people can stop things like that cold turkey." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "You've seen her recently too, Sam; she's fine."

Sam crossed her arms and sighed. "I hope so."

"All right, all right, that's enough!" Vala grinned, backing away from the artifacts. "My head will explode if you give me any more information." He'd tried telling her the stories of how he'd acquired the artifacts more than telling her about the pieces themselves, and she seemed to have been more interested than usual.

"Was I boring you?"

"Not at all—yet," she smirked, and dragged him back toward the couch.

Daniel smiled. "And we're not even out of the living room yet."

"We can pick that up later, maybe. I hoping we have something more interesting to do next time though. Maybe I'll bring a picnic I can eat by myself," she pouted.

"Sorry; I'll have some kind of power source here next time. We can raid my DVD collection or something."

Vala caught his hands. "So you're coming back?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I come back?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I suppose I was a little afraid I would scare you away," she admitted.

"Vala…if I ever left, it wouldn't be your fault."

Her hands tightened around his. "But you're not leaving, right?"

"No, of course not," he said again. "I'm not going anywhere." The eye contact they were sharing said much, but Vala didn't move. He was glad she was respecting his needs, but that wasn't what he wanted right now. Slowly, tentatively, making sure he stayed in control, Daniel leaned closer and kissed her lightly.

Almost immediately the burning in his throat grew to a roar. He had to let go of her and step away. He turned his back just as quickly, feeling something akin to shame. Behind him, Vala stood still. He heard the slight movements of her head, but he didn't feel her eyes boring into his back until long moments later.

"Daniel…is there even any point to this?"

It was open, honest, raw…and it addressed his own fears.

"I hope so," he said, and turned back to her quickly. "I want there to be."

She swallowed. "Do you really?"

"I—yes!" He stepped back up to her, took her shoulders in his hands, and pressed his mouth to hers again. This time she responded readily. The burning flared, the thirst, even though he had hunted before coming. That didn't matter; this was a human scent, so much more powerful and tantalizing than any large game.

He withstood it longer this time, but then he pulled away again, in similar fashion to before. This time he let out a frustrated growl.

"Daniel, what's wrong? What are you doing?"

"Trying to not kill you…and at the same time try to figure out why I'm falling in love with you now."

He was only half turned this time, and he could see her clearly through the corner of his eye. She smiled just a little.

"I don't know about you, but I liked you the moment I saw you." She paused, and her eyes grew distant. "And I fell in love with you like a schoolgirl the day you found me in that warehouse."

Daniel swallowed and faced her, knowing he wouldn't be able to see if his eyes were capable of creating tears. "I…I don't know when I fell in love with you. Whenever I did, I denied it like a teenager. I denied it until two weeks ago when I really talked to you for the first time in a year. I was trying to deny it again today. Part of me…part of me wants to deny it now; it would be so much easier…"

Her mouth opened, and he realized she might have taken it as an insult.

"It's not because of you. It's that I don't want to put you in danger," he added quickly, and shook his head. "I've already done that by telling you the truth."

"I thought we'd been over that. I don't care."

"I know you don't, but I do." He swallowed "If there's one thing I know for certain that I want, I want you to be safe."

Vala stared at the ground, and he wondered what he was supposed to say next. He could hear her heart beating, but the room seemed so quiet without the sound of his to join it. So much had changed in the last year. Among those things were the way both of them approached things—the way they saw things. A year ago, he never would have admitted any of this, and neither would she.

Daniel took a step closer to her again, fists clenched at his side. "Vala, I know it even seems to me like we're coming at this so fast…but now, in this state, more than ever…I realize that whether I'm immortal or not, none of us has all the time in the world. I spent too much of my life wasting time, and now that human life is gone. I was given chance after chance, and now it's gone forever."

The sudden crushing pain in his chest squeezed tighter, and he gasped even though he didn't need the air. "I don't want to make the same mistake in this life." This time it was Vala who stepped closer again. She gripped his arms lightly, and finally looked at him again. Daniel almost lost his nerve, looking her in the eyes.

"I want to try to make this work," he whispered.

"So what are you saying?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know. I just—I love you. I love you."

Vala's hands slowly drifted up to cup his face, and her eyes searched his, undoubtedly searching for confirmation of truth in the amber color that was still strange even to him. After a moment, something in her expression told him she'd found what she was looking for.

"I love you too." Cautiously, but decisively, she tilted her face in to his, but stopped there. She let him come to her, and he did it willingly. Daniel kissed her one more time; her arms wrapped around his neck, and his went around her waist. He still had to break off the lip contact after a moment or so, but he managed to stay where he was.

She grinned up at him. "Getting easier?"

"Slowly," he sighed. "Very, very slowly."

"Don't worry; we have plenty of time to work on it."