Found - part 24

This is a very short chapter, and it's been a long time coming, and I want to apologise for that. I've been unwell a lot recently and its been difficult finding the motivation for writing. As uni breaks up in a few weeks I expect I'll have more time and energy for it then, so please bear with me - sorry.

This is a little scene I wanted to write between Tally and Vala. I thought (with them both being strong opinionated and passionate women) it would be a fun concept. I'd also love for them to end up friends, though I haven't figured out how to wrangle that one yet.

Enjoy!

It was lunchtime. Ordinarily Tally would rejoice at this hour of the day, because there really was nothing quite as wonderful as Tau'ri cuisine – though this opinion frequently bought her some odd looks from Daniel or Bill Lee – and no better place to people-watch than the commissary. However, today was not such a day.

Today, she sat across from a raven-haired woman who was having just as wonderful a time with the food as she usually did, and it was driving her crazy. Vala Mal Doran seemed not to notice Tally's icy gaze, engrossed as she was in her lemon chicken, and continued chatting away chirpily. When Tally's white-knuckled grip on the plastic spoon that came with her fruit cup snapped, however, Vala noticed. She stopped talking, sat back in her chair, and regarded Tally thoughtfully.

"I get the feeling you don't like me very much." She said eventually.

Tally gave her a fake smile. "Oh really? Whatever gave you that idea?"

"The glare you're shooting at me. And the rather frosty reception I've had from you ever since I arrived. Now I'm a smart woman, I know you're probably a teensy bit upset because I'm indirectly responsible for the mess your parents got into –"

"Indirectly?" Tally cut in incredulously.

"– but I had no way of knowing that would happen, and I came here knowing that you people were their best shot at getting rescued."

"So you only had their best interests at heart? Please, spare me the theatrics. You came here because of the Ancient treasure. If it wasn't for Luke, you probably wouldn't even have mentioned the hostages, would you?" Tally said scathingly.

"Now that's not fair. Maybe I occasionally don't pay my bills, but I don't mess around with the lives of innocent people. Not intentionally, anyway. No matter who they were, I would never have just left them to their fates." Vala protested.

Tally shook her head with a disbelieving smile. "Whatever."

Vala rolled her eyes, and tried a different tactic. "Luke likes me."

"Luke tolerated you because he wanted to get to Earth, and you said you could get him there." Tally snapped.

"Did he tell you that?"

Tally paused, uncomfortably. "You know he didn't because I haven't seen him when you haven't been around yet. But I could tell in that briefing, he doesn't like what you do."

"Don't be so sure. I offered him a life like mine, and if he wasn't so hell-bent on finding his family, he would have taken it." Vala popped another piece of chicken in her mouth and chewed slowly, waiting for Tally's reaction.

"You're lying."

"Am I? Why don't you ask him when he gets out of his briefing with Dr Weir? He likes the adventure, that boy. Academia or the military would stifle his potential." She squinted at Tally appraisingly. "And I suspect the same could be said about you."

Tally shifted awkwardly. "What's your point?"

"I want to help rescue your parents because it's the right thing to do, not because I want something from the Tau'ri. Luke is a fantastic boy with abounding potential and I've grown very fond of him, so I don't want to see him get stuck in an office studying rocks from morbidly boring planets which he never sees for himself, or playing the 'yes sir, no sir, may I kiss your boots sir' game for the military." Vala's voice rose as she reached the end of her tirade, and so when she finished there was silence in the commissary as everyone watched the two women, before going back to their own conversations.

Tally looked at her food, not sure what to say to that. Vala shook herself and settled back in her chair, letting her indignant feelings ebb a little. "I guess you're coming on the rescue mission?" Vala asked, to break the silence. Tally shook her head.

"No, I can't. I'm … I'm pregnant. I'm not allowed off world. That's why I'm here and not with my parents as another hostage."

Vala was momentarily stunned. "Oh. Congratulations."

"The fourth hostage is my baby's father." She added. Vala's smile fell a few notches.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"We'll get them back." The older woman said reassuringly.

"You'd better." Tally backed her statement up with another glare.

"We will. And then we can all go on a nice friendly treasure hunt together."

Tally rolled her eyes and got up, leaving Vala at the table.

"What?" Vala called after Tally's retreating back. "It'll be fun!"

Please review - let me know what you think of the Vala/Tally dynamic!

Beka