Hey ya'll! Vacation is slowing me down a little this week, spending time with friends and the family and all, but don't worry, I'm still working, lol. Anyway, here ya go. Can't wait to hear from you. :) Have a great Thanksgiving!

Chapter 8

Vala's smile deflated at his answer. "I was afraid you would say something like that, because I don't know either." She stood and began to pace anxiously.

"Vala…Is something else wrong?"

She swallowed, and he could hear her heart picking up a little speed. "No. It's just that. I don't know what to do. Usually when I'm with you I can only be happy…but then I go home, and I remember all over again that nothing will ever really be right again—not while you're gone."

"But I'm not gone."

She stopped and looked at him. "You know what I mean! You're still gone to them!"

He knew what she meant, all right. He'd been trying not to think about it. Daniel stood slowly. "You know we can't tell them the truth…"

"Then what are we supposed to do about it?" Vala pressed, and she began to pace again. "The SGC is all right in general, I suppose, though I don't think your departments are getting nearly as much done these days. None of them can read Ancient as well as you, no matter how long they work at it. Cameron doesn't talk as much as he used to, and even less since I found out about you…Everything seems to have gotten worse since then."

He saw her blink back tears, and she continued to move back and forth restlessly. "When I realized I was the cause of it I tried tone it back, be more normal when I was around them…but I think they can still see that I…I'm different. Something's different, or maybe they even really do suspect that I know something they don't—I don't know. I just know that Sam does nothing but work, Cameron is strangely silent, and Teal'c…well, he's Teal'c, but I think he senses something too."

She dropped onto the far end of the couch. "I feel so guilty!" she admitted, face falling into her hands. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do! I know we have to protect them, but it hurts so much to see them like that…"

Daniel let the silence linger for a few moments, before he tried to respond to that. "Is it really that bad?" he asked finally.

Vala shrugged. "I may be reading into everything more than I should. Maybe I'm seeing things that aren't there, and maybe it's not as serious at it seems, but I know it feels horrible."

He stood now, and stared at his feet. "I'm sorry…it's my fault. All of this is. This whole blasted situation is my fault. I never wanted to hurt them, or you…"

"Hey. It hasn't been all bad," she reminded him, and when he looked up she was smiling a little.

"No…it hasn't," he agreed. She was still sitting, but now it was he who paced. "Do you think maybe it would help if they had some sort of closure? It's painfully obvious that's one thing that's lacking."

Vala raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm sure it would help, but the problem with that is that there's no body for them to find, because you're alive—sort of—and we've already established that we can't tell them the truth."

"No…no, maybe not, but I'm sure Carlisle could com up with something, if I asked. He could fake something. But…blood. We would need blood from when I was human."

"Blood? Daniel, what are you getting at?"

"I mean, give them a body to find." He grimaced at the thought, but it was the only thing that made sense right now. Unfortunately, it would have to be something unrecognizable, small…not my body, but enough for them to be sure I was dead. I'm not sure how to do that and make it foolproof, but Carlisle would know."

She stood, arms crossed tightly. "He's a doctor, right?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I don't know why I didn't think about this before. If they weren't thinking somewhere in the back of their minds that I might be out there somewhere, somehow…then they would be able to heal." Daniel sighed heavily. "It's the least I can do now."

Vala swallowed hard. "I don't exactly like the idea by itself—making them think you're dead…but I suppose it's really the only other alternative in this situation…"

"I don't like it either," Daniel answered grimly. "But you're right: I think it's the only choice we have."

"And what about us?" she asked quietly.

He didn't want to answer that question right now. He wanted to keep her, but if he truly thought about what was best for everyone…he was afraid of what he might have to answer. "Vala, not now"

"Why not? That's the heart of this situation after all, of this problem—us." The pained look in her eyes told him she was just as afraid as he was.

"Can we fix one thing at a time?" he asked, straining to keep his voice even.

Vala looked at him for a long moment. "I suppose…"

"Good." Anxiously he paced passed her, and then turned to her again. "Can you do me a favor?"

"What could I do that you couldn't?" she asked wryly.

He sighed. "You have access to the SGC. I guess I could get in if I really wanted to, maybe, but there would be a lot less risk if you did it."

Her hands went to her hips in exasperation. "If I did what?"

"Blood samples," he told her. "Mine. That's not the kind of thing they would have thrown out. Any samples they ever took from me for archive reasons or otherwise would be somewhere on base, sitting in cold storage. Considering the fact that the SGC is top secret, they keep them on-site instead of elsewhere."

Vala blew out a tense breath. "You're going to bring them back to this Carlisle person so he can help you create something for someone to find?"

"Yes," he nodded. A sketchy idea of what he really had to do was forming in his mind, but he pushed most of it aside. He could only focus on this part right now, or he might lose his mind. "I think we agreed that I don't really have a choice. If you don't want to get them for me, that's fine, I'll find a way, but I thought I'd give you the option…"

"I'll do it," she said immediately. "You know I can't resist a challenge—not that this will really be much of one."

"Oh?"

She shrugged. "I think I already know where this cold storage room is. I've seen people in the infirmary going in or out of it one or twice. It isn't paid much attention to. There isn't really any extra security either, besides some fancy locking mechanism I should be able to easily bypass."

He smirked. "Of course it would never be a problem for you."

Vala came to him then, and wrapped her arms around his neck. When she did that he had to remember not to pay attention to hers…

"Maybe we'd better head back now," she murmured.

"Probably," he agreed. He quickly pulled her back gently, and gave her a brief kiss. Then he let go of her, and she seemed disappointed, but understanding.

"Right."

Vala had been right; it proved no challenge at all to slip quietly into the cold storage room that night, when there was almost no-one in the infirmary. There were no patients. A bored nurse sat at a desk near the front, and one other wondered aimlessly, straightening something here or there. It was easy to slip past them.

The small room off the back of the infirmary was chilly and filled with large medical-use freezers. The lock had posed no threat to her operation; after all, the room was already near the bottom of a carefully guarded, top secret military facility. There wasn't a security camera in the room either, and she had avoided all of the ones in the corridors and infirmary on the way here, as well. There would be no proof anywhere that she had ever gotten out of bed that night.

Everything was alphabetized, and it didn't take her long to find what she was looking for.

It also didn't take her long to realize that blood wasn't the only thing top-secret military facilities kept samples of from their employees.

Interesting…

Vala quickly shut down any other thoughts, and took what she had come here for.

Daniel didn't go home immediately. Instead, he did what he hadn't dared do before. He respected his friends' privacy, and had never seen them from anywhere but outside the mountain entrance. Now though, he had a reason to get past his misgivings about watching his friends.

He had to know if they were all right…or if Vala's worries meant something.

He found Cameron at Sam's house—unsurprising these days, as far as he had heard. He moved from window to window, never in one place for too long, sticking to the shadows. It was getting dark, but it wasn't yet night. Tentatively he kept an eye on them, for any signs that something was wrong.

At first it seemed as if everything were fine. They seemed comfortable together. He was glad for that, at least. Sam deserved someone like Mitchell. Daniel saw them pull out leftovers and eat at her kitchen table. The conversation was a little subdued, but he didn't really begin to worry until they curled up on the couch together. By then Daniel had decided he should leave…but then Sam cried.

It didn't seem to be something new for Cameron. Mitchell hugged her closer, silent, and let her cry. Daniel stood frozen outside the window, ignoring the rain that was beginning. Sam didn't cry long, and neither of them said a word about it. Somehow that hurt even more; it could only mean that it happened more often than he wanted to think about.

Daniel waited until Mitchell left later, and Sam went to bed. Silently he slipped into the house. She was asleep, and he stood over her for several long moments, fists clenched. He new it was dangerous to be there, if she woke…

His chest heaved with dry sobs, and he kept his mouth clenched tightly shut to mute the sound. Sam tossed and turned in her sleep, her expression troubled. "I'm sorry, Sam…I wish I could make it go away," he whispered after another moment. "All I can do is stop the wondering."

I just hope that's enough.

Her eyes opened.

Daniel reacted in time, and by the time Sam focused on anything he was outside the bedroom door. He heard her sit up, and glanced through a crack in the door to make sure she was all right.

"Daniel…?"

He resisted the urge to jerk away from the door, knowing that she was only reacting to what she had to believe had been a dream. Seconds later she dropped back against her pillows and pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes. "Snap out of it, Sam; he's gone…" she told herself unsteadily.

Daniel eased back from the door and leaned against the wall. His eyes slipped shut and he stood there, listening to her go back to sleep. He could hear every restless time she turned over, every muffled sob and stressed breath. It was one of those moments that he didn't appreciate the heightened senses.

It would be so easy to walk into that room and tell her the truth. It would be easy even to go in there and lie—to tell her that he had been killed, and had ascended, maybe, that after all the trouble he'd caused for them in the past, he couldn't come back again. She could tell the others; they would believe her. Then the elaborate charade he was planning to ask Carlisle to help him with wouldn't be needed. The problem with that was, would Sam believe him?

Probably not. It was too dangerous, besides.

He wasn't sure how long it was before he pulled himself away and walked back to Alice's car. He didn't need to find a way to get to Teal'c, or track Cameron down again. After that, he already understood the damage.

Daniel wanted to blank out the world, wanted tears to blur his vision and take his thoughts somewhere that didn't hurt so much. Instead, his vision remained crystal clear, and he couldn't forget any if it—more disadvantages of being immortal.

By the time he neared Forks, he knew he had to talk to Alice. He pulled to the side of the road just short of the driveway and waited for her. He knew she would see his decision and come to him.

Sure enough, she was there no more than a minute later, shutting the car door behind her as she slid inside. "You didn't have a good day." It wasn't a question.

He shook his head slowly, but cut right to the chase. "Alice, what kind of choices do we have in the long run? Really?"

"Daniel…"

"The honeymoon's over, Alice. I know we can't keep doing this forever, and now Vala's admitting it too. What do we do?" He sighed. "How could this end?"

She said nothing for a long time. She was staring at him, determining whether he was serious about wanting to know.

"There are only a few ways, really," Alice began quietly. "One of you could break it off for some reason or another, she could become one of us, or one or both of you could be killed by the Volturri. That's the simple version."

"What happened to the option where I stay with her throughout her human lifespan?"

Alice shook her head. "That was Edward's first choice…when he fell in love with Bella. It can't happen that way. If you stay together, the Volturri will find out about her eventually."

He swallowed. "Have you seen that?" he asked.

"Yes. I haven't seen if their discovery brings danger, but as of now they will know about her in some capacity, someday."

Daniel's fist pounded the armrest.

Alice's face froze, and when she moved again she was looking to him quickly. "Daniel, what are you going to do?"

"What did you see?"

She hesitated. "I saw Vala crying."

He swallowed hard and looked away; whatever he had in place of a stomach twisted in knots. "There may not be a way to avoid that now. I have to do something."

"You're not sure exactly what you're going to do, but whatever it is will hurt her," Alice told him with concern. "I know I haven't met her, but…please…whatever you do…just think long and hard first."

"You don't have to remind me to do that," he snorted softly.

Vala slipped her key back into her pocket once she had the cellar door closed above her. A soft hum to one side told her that the generator was on, which meant Daniel was already here.

Halfway up the stairs she heard him pacing above her, and as soon as she was through the door and in the kitchen Daniel's arms were around her and he was kissing her

"Wow, what a greeting," she breathed when he finally let go. It had been enough that he jumped back several feet in a flash, to make sure he was under control. She began to worry when he went back to pacing. "Daniel?"

His marble-white hands scrubbed through his hair. "Vala, why do you love me?"

An alarm went off in the back of her mind. "What?"

"Why do you love me?" he repeated earnestly.

She blinked. "I…I just do—because you're you. You were the first person in my life besides my mother who really cared. You helped me become who I am now."

He took a breath. "Is that it though?"

"Are you crazy? Daniel, you know me. I wouldn't be here if I didn't love you."

"I know that! But why? I have to know why…" The uncertainty and pain in his eyes tore at her heart. What was going on that he would suddenly question her?

Vala took a step closer. "What else is there to know? I love you, and that's not going to change."

Somehow that didn't seem to help. He grimaced. "But I'm different…I'm dangerous. I not human."

"Yes, we established that."

"But…but I can't give you any children. I can't be with you in the first place, because I wouldn't be able to stay in control. I don't know if we can even stay together."

"What do you mean?" she asked, gulping back the sudden panic.

"We can't keep doing this forever," he said, waving his arm at the house they were in. "You were right. We can't pretend this will just last. Eventually something will have to change. The Volturri will find out eventually…Either we'll have to separate before that happens, or you would have to become one of us."

Vala crossed her arms nervously. "Don't think I haven't considered it."

"I couldn't do it," Daniel said quickly. "In the first place I'm too young; I wouldn't be able to do what needed to be done without killing you, even if I didn't already abhor the thought of turning you into this."

"What's so bad about it? Maybe the transition is painful, but what would I lose? I've done everything there is to do in this life—more than most people on this planet have ever done."

"You would lose our friends, just like I have. We couldn't tell them. You wouldn't be able to go back. Are you really ready to do that?"

Vala opened her mouth, shifted uncomfortably. "No…but it doesn't have to be right now."

"No, but it doesn't matter. I wouldn't do that to you."

She huffed. "All right…then what about the stargate? You keep forgetting that we have access to other planets. The Volturri don't."

"You have access to other planets. I don't anymore, either. That thought came to mind for me too, but the fact is that there's no way to get me through the 'gate without telling someone the truth, which we can't do. Even if there was, we would still have the same problem—we wouldn't be able to tell anyone about me, which would ,mean no-one would know where we were, and you still wouldn't be able to see them.

Why did he always have to be so right?

"W-what if I told you that I didn't mind?"

He sighed. "Of course you mind. It would just be us, forever, whether you stay human or not. I can't give you the family you must want."

The fluttering in her stomach and the nervousness that stuck in her throat solidified into a lump. "But I love you."

"I know…" Their eyes locked and he trailed off. He came back to her, and she was in his arms again. Vala thought Daniel's kisses would calm her fears, but the anxiousness with which he kissed her only encouraged them.

"Daniel, what's wrong?" she whispered against his cheek.

"Nothing, I just…" He pulled back. "Did you get it?"

"Yes. The vials are back in the car at the market."

When she'd gotten her license approved, General Landry had seen to it that she was provided with a vehicle, seeing as she couldn't exactly buy one for herself. Not only was she completely unversed in the confusing way such things were done on Earth, but because her living expenses were taken care of by living on the base, she wasn't paid enough to buy one even if she did know how. It wasn't big, and it wasn't new, but it was a car that she could call her own for now.

"Great," he nodded. "Thank you."

"You're uhm, you're welcome. I'm sorry I didn't bring them with me; I didn't know how you wanted to go about that…" A delicate way of saying that she didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

"Thanks, but the glass should work just as well as skin. You didn't have to worry. Anyway, I'll get them myself on my way out."

"Oh. All right."

Daniel clasped her shoulders. "Thank you again. I…I can't stay today though. I have to get those samples back to Carlisle."

"Oh…" she trailed. "Are you sure?"

He hesitated. "Yeah. Sorry."

The knot of fear in her gut twisted when he stepped back gain. "Daniel, wait," she pleaded desperately.

His expression softened, and he turned back to her. His hands found her face. "Hey…you know I'll always love you, right?" His voice still sounded too strained for her liking, even as he searched her eyes, but she knew he was sincere.

"Yes. And—"

"I know," he said quietly, cutting her off before she could return the sentiment. "Just remember that. I'll always love you, no matter what."

Vala wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Daniel's hands dropped from her face and one of them went gently to the back of her head while his other arm encircled her waist and pressed her to him. In moments his head had dipped, telling her he couldn't handle the mouth contact anymore, but she held on long after that.

Something made her afraid to let go.

This time Daniel didn't peel her off himself; that alone would have worried her.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too."

Finally Vala brought herself to let go, and Daniel turned for the cellar door. He looked back and smiled tentatively at her, and then he was gone.

By the time she walked back to her car, the vials were indeed missing. She sighed and drove home.

Daniel sobbed most of the way back to Washington, gripping the steering wheel so tightly he had to focus on not snapping it into pieces. With no tears to give him the release he wanted, his chest felt sore by the time he pulled into the Cullens' driveway.

He hadn't thought that was possible.

He carefully composed himself before getting out of the car, schooling his thoughts as well. Gently clutching the two small vials of blood in his hand to cover the scent as well as he could, he went inside.

Emmet and Jasper were on the couch watching a game, and Renesmee was in the back yard playing ball with Jacob Black—the family friend who happened to be a werewolf. Well, he and his kind were closer to shapeshifters, as they could change at will and were completely lucid when in wolf form, and there was more to his relationship with the Cullens than a long friendship, but even Daniel didn't know all of the details.

None of the others were anywhere to be seen, but he could hear some of them upstairs. Either way, he was able to slip into Carlisle's office relatively unnoticed. The doctor was at his desk, scrolling through something on his computer screen. He looked up before Daniel said a word.

"Daniel…you're back." He frowned in concern. "Is something wrong?"

Daniel approached the desk slowly, taking a deep breath. "I uh…You, all of you, have given me so much, helped me, and I hope that someday I can repay you somehow, but right now, I…I really need to ask a favor of you, if I may."

Carlisle straightened attentively. "Of course."

Vala woke in a cold sweat, and realized it was already the middle of the night. She pulled the blankets tighter around her as words echoed in her mind, from memory and from their repetition in her dreams.

Eventually something will have to change.

I can't give you any children.

Of course you mind. It would just be us, forever, whether you stay human or not. I can't give you the family you must want.

It was because of those things that he was doubting their future together—that he was wondering if they could even have a future together. But Vala knew it had to be possible, and she wanted it in whatever form it came in.

Maybe, though, Daniel needed a little incentive…something to show him that it could work, that their situation wasn't as hopeless as he seemed to miserably believe.

Vala lay where she was, wondering what she could do to help him see it. Her first idea she immediately shoved aside. It was rash, unwise…but then again when did she do the smart thing? She tried to think of another way. Honestly she did.

But in the end it came to the one idea.

She didn't think about it for much longer. If she thought, she wouldn't do it, and it seemed as if it was the only thing she could do.

Before she could change her mind Vala got up quickly, dressed, and snuck back to the cold storage room.