Chapter 7 God Helps Those Who Help Themselves

Daniel couldn't speak. His mouth dropped. When he thought back to this moment later on he was convinced that he'd actually stopped breathing for a good few seconds. He was aware of his heart pounding, racing in his chest. He stumbled across the room and fell to his knees in front of the bed.

"Vala!" He held her face gently in his hands, looking, searching. She was smiling, beautiful grey eyes crinkling. She lifted her right hand to touch the back of his.

"Hello darling," she whispered, before she leant in and kissed him gently on the lips.

Daniel paused for an infintessimal second, then pulled her close to him, arms tight around her as he buried his face in her hair. She moaned in pain. He pulled back.

"What is it?" he watched her concerned. She was grinning.

"Nothing much. It doesn't matter anyway, not now. Have you come to take me away from all this?"

"Vala!"

She pouted.

"Just a little injury I picked up in your absence, my darling. I did get myself into a little bit of a m-mess." Her voice caught in her throat and gave her away. She wiped her nose. Daniel moved so that he could sit next to her and put his arm gently around her shoulders. She nestled awkwardly into his side, grimacing with pain. He watched her the whole time, unable to take his eyes away from her, in case she vanished.

"You help?" said the old man from the doorway. "You doctor."

Vala laughed then sucked her breath in when it hurt. "He thought that you were a real doctor?"

"I kept telling him," whispered Daniel. "But he wouldn't take no for an answer. Oh, thank God he didn't! I wouldn't have found you!" He laid his cheek against her hair.

She lifted his fingers to kiss them gently, then spoke to the old man fluently in his own dialect. He nodded excitedly, beaming, and chattering back. Eventually he left, nodding at the two of them. Vala leant back carefully and looked up at Daniel.

"He's going to look for Mitchell. I take it that you did come with him?"

"Sure. He's at the Stargate. Oh! The Stargate!"

"Tell me about it!" Vala pulled a face. "That damned idiot Dalton crashed his Tel'tak about twenty miles from here. I suppose that kicking him in the head may have had something to do with it. Served him right, in my opinion. I don't cope well with being kidnapped. Or locked up."

"Don't I know it." Daniel ran his fingertips gently down her face. He couldn't believe that she was here, next to him, in his arms. He'd found her. He'd really found her. The object of his love winced and tried to change her position.

"Where are you hurt?" he asked her concerned.

"Oh, that's another story," she put her finger to his lips. "I want to tell you this one first. Now hush a minute!"

She wriggled again. Her forehead, where she'd leant it against his neck, felt hot. She looked rough, he thought. Her face was pale, and now he looked closely, she'd lost weight. There was hardly anything of her. He pulled her close again.

"Ouch, Daniel!" she chided him.

"Okay," he acquiesced. "Tell me your story."

"Well…." Vala interlaced her fingers with Daniel's as she began to speak. "Dalton, the idiot, crashed his ship. He should have let me fly it. But then, if I had been flying I wouldn't have been able to escape from the room that he'd locked me in, so I couldn't have kicked him in the head. You should have seen me Daniel," she sighed reminiscently, "it was the Prometheus all over again, except not nearly as much fun because you weren't there. Oh, and there was another guy there, but I had to Zat him. He was annoying. I sent him off somewhere in the ring transporter. What?"

Daniel was laughing quietly.

"You. Being resourceful and acting like some kind of ninja."

"Ninja." Vala rolled the word around her tongue. "I like it. So, anyway, he crashed the Tel'tak and I ran away. I hid out in a tavern – flirted shamefully with the bar-keeper – I'm sorry about that Daniel, but nothing happened, really it didn't – he's happily married to this nice fat woman who looks like a troll. What now?"

She was starting to look peeved. Daniel was laughing loudly now.

"It's you!" He held her closely, forgetting about her injury. She managed to cope for a few moments before pushing him gently away.

"Sorry," they both said together.

"Go on," said Jackson.

"Well," Vala took a breath, wincing, "I worked in the inn and there was this man who used to come in all the time – skinny, little rat-faced guy – turned out he'd had dealings with Dalton in the past. Something – guess what Daniel?"

He shrugged.

"Well, something to do with naquadria. Smuggling it from planet to planet. Because it's so unstable – the Kelownans' don't let it out of their sight if they can help it, so people have to steal it."

"Don't I know it!" grumbled Daniel.

"So anyway, Keehan – that was the ratty little man – he decided to contact Dalton to try and get some naquadria."

"He decided? Or you talked him into it?"

Vala smiled proudly. "I talked him into it. I thought, you see, it might be a way to get back to Kelowna. Because by the time we managed to get to the city, the Stargate was broken." She paused, sadly. "I did feel rather glum, I don't mind admitting it, when I saw that DHD. So I knew that the only way to get home was to fly there. Except Keehan was rubbish at double-crossing Dalton – I really should have insisted that I did the negotiating."

"Is that how you were hurt?" asked Daniel, softly. He stroked her thin face very, very gently.

"No, not yet," she smiled. "If you keep interrupting me, we'll never get there."

The archaeologist mimed zipping his lips together. Vala smiled and carried on.

"Well, there's a place where you can find jewels that emit energy. If you cut them well, like diamonds back on earth, you know? And if you mix them somehow with the naquadria – I don't know exactly how it works – well, it makes a weapon. But not a bomb. Like a glazer thing, a big glazer weapon. And the naquadria is kept more stable by the diamond things. I don't know, I didn't understand all the chemistry stuff. It's more Samantha's thing."

Vala was looking seriously tired by now. Her eyes were almost closed as she was speaking.

"I think that you mean 'laser', rather than 'glazer'," whispered Daniel gently.

"Oh yes," she gave a tiny smile. "Well, Dalton had the 'gate co-ordinates to the world where the jewels are. And in the museum is a stone thing like the one from Monsoon World. Do you remember?"

"Vala…" the archaeologist suddenly had an intent look on his face. "The stone thing…?"

"We didn't have time to get it," she sighed. "I was supposed to break into Dalton's safe and take the 'gate co-ordinates and Keehan was meant to be stealing the other thing. What is it?"

"A mapreader."

"Mmmm. Well, never send a man to do a woman's job. Dalton's men caught Keehan and killed him. He was a rubbish conman Daniel, really he was. Even you would have been better."

"Er – thank you. I think."

"Then they came after me. They didn't catch me, but one of them blasted a big metal cauldron right next to me and I was hit by all of the rusty bits as it fell apart."

"You mean, shrapnel?" Daniel tilted her chin so that she had to look up at him. "Vala – have you got shrapnel injuries?"

"Mmmm. But I haven't finished telling you yet. Sonel found me – this room belongs to his son, who's away working somewhere. But my side wasn't getting any better, and we couldn't get drugs, because Dalton runs the black market round here, and it meant he would have found me."

"Show me where you're injured," demanded Dr Jackson. He laid her carefully back on the bed, and lifted the loose, tattered blouse which she wore.

"Hell's teeth Vala!" he ejaculated. The whole of her left side, between her armpit and hip was covered in one huge bruise. There were four or five open, bloody areas that were clearly infected.

"Pretty, isn't it?" she quipped. "Told you they hit me."

"Vala…" Daniel was lost for words. She must have been in agony just sitting up next to him. His eyes were itching and prickling. He wiped his nose with his handkerchief. "You beautiful fool."

"Thank you, darling." She was smiling again, but her eyes were closed.

"I'm calling Mitchell." Daniel reached for his radio, but as if on cue it crackled into life.

"Jackson!" the colonel's voice burst forth from the device. "Where the heck are you? There's an old guy here yacking on about who knows what!"

Vala's eyes flickered open. She grinned. So did Daniel.

"Follow him, Cam. I've got a present here for you."

Mitchell turned up about five minutes later.

"Holy crap!" was the first expression out of his mouth.

"Lovely to see you too, Cameron darling," whispered SG-1's recently found ex-space pirate.

"Thank God!" he knelt next to her. "I can't believe it – are you okay?" He didn't know what to do first – whether to hug her or shake her until her teeth rattled.

"She's hurt," Daniel interrupted him. "We need to get back to the Hammond as soon as possible."

"Roger that, Jackson." Cam stood and contacted Sam on his radio. "Carter – we've found something precious down here. Think you're gonna want to see it."

"What exactly is it, Mitchell? Her voice crackled into the room. Vala smiled up at Daniel.

"Well, it's annoying, disrespectful, brave, funny – oh yeah - and we lost it a while back on Kelowna."

"Vala?" Sam sounded incredulous. "Seriously? You have Vala?"

"Yep," Cam was grinning from ear to ear. "She's hurt though – can you bring us up?"

"Sure, sure – standby. Vala – really? You're not making it up? For real?"

"For absolute real. Warn Dr Lam – we're going to need her."

"Roger that Mitchell. Standby."

Cam put his radio back into it's pouch. At that moment Lt Redwell appeared with they young man Shay form the museum.

"Dr Jackson," he saluted Mitchell briefly. "This gentleman has something for you. I signed a whole load of papers to release whatever it is from the museum. I hope that was okay, sir."

"Oh, you found it then!" Vala was struggling up onto her elbow. Daniel tenderly lifted her forward.

"Is that the mapreader that your friend was after?" he asked her. She pouted.

"He most definitely wasn't my friend, Daniel, but yes that's it. I suppose that you want the 'gate co-ordinates?"

"You have them?" his face brightened. "Really?"

"Darling," Vala pulled a tiny, waxed roll of material from a hidden pocket in her long, scruffy blouse. "Did you ever doubt me?"

Daniel took her face between his hands and kissed her briefly but soundly, not caring that the room was full of airmen.

"I love you."

Cam was grinning and shaking his head, almost unable to believe that they'd found their lost team-mate, by pure chance.

"God helps those who help themselves," he reminded Jackson.

"I'm beginning to think that he does." The archaeologist very carefully lifted Vala into his arms, as Sam's voice came through again on the radio.

"Ready to bring you aboard, Mitchell," she told them.

"Just Dr Jackson and Vala at the moment," he told her, "we'll contact you when the rest of us are finished down here."

"Very well. Standby."

Daniel leant his cheek against Vala's dusty, dark hair. She tilted her head and kissed his neck. Another moment and they felt the familiar itch and tingle of the transport beam as they re-materialised on the bridge of the George Hammond.

Well, did you guess that it would be our girl? :-) More soon!