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Chapter 5

***I do not own anything here, all characters belong to MGM, I just play with them now and again.*****

A/N -- this chapter deals with Cam and his reaction to the Daniel/Vala relationship…. It explains why he seemed worried.

"What!!!!" Cameron Mitchell rolled over and answered the phone. "Sorry mom I just didn't expect a call at 430 in the morning. Is everything ok at home?"

Cam sat up and fumbled for the light. He listened to his mom, trying to wake up enough to be coherent. "You want me to what? Beat the snot out of Daniel Jackson? Hold on a minute mom! Yes ma'am I know you and daddy always raised me to protect a woman, wait…… Vala is NOT my sister! Yes Ma'am I know you care about her, yes Ma'am I know you always wanted a little girl, but Mom, Vala is nothing like you…..... I do not want to hear your sixties' stories Mom so I will take your word for it."

Cam huffed and listened as his mother extolled the virtues of Vala. "Wait a minute where does beating up Jackson come in? You gals talked 7 hours last night? She was crying? Wait a minute, Vala? Are you sure you have this right Mom, Daniel has been by her side constantly lately. Oh ok, I will listen…..…uh huh…..…. Really? They went to New Orleans and he never…….every time she wants to talk he kisses her? Mom I do not need to hear this!! Ok just leave the details out ok?"

Cam settled in to listen to his mom vent, good thing she didn't know where to find Daniel, lucky for Daniel! "No, I don't think he is leading her on Mom. Yes he is an archeologist, no not like Professor Gibbons more like Indiana Jones. No Mom he is not a womanizer, he is rather shy. He's been married, not divorced-- widowed, no kids, just your typical geek. Always has his nose in a book. Do I think he cares for Vala, hell Mom, excuse me, heck Mom everyone we work with have known those two are nuts about each other since the beginning. There is a huge betting pool at work….…Ok Mom, I will talk to Daniel and make sure he knows to treat Vala well, he will Mom, Daniel is not the type to use or abuse women. Mom, I am not going to beat him up! No Mom I won't give you his phone number!" Cam almost felt sorry for Jackson; he had "hurt" his mom's newest "baby" and would pay if he wasn't careful.

"Wait a minute Mom, she called you? On the telephone? Do you know where she is? What do you mean by nunya? Daniel has been wondering where she is…. . Sheesh mom, Oh ….ok…. I promise I won't tell Daniel where Vala is or that she called you." Cam hung up the telephone.

Damn he knew this Daniel-Vala thing could break up the "band". He admitted that Jackson, at least, had seemed happier over the past few weeks if the number of times he had come upon them necking in the SGC was anything to go by. Vala had always looked a bit stunned; Cam had attributed that to her having finally "caught" Daniel after years of trying. According to his mother though, Vala was confused, not sure what Daniel's intentions were, worried that he was only using her. Cam snorted; Vala obviously didn't understand Jackson as much as she thought she did. Jackson had no intention of "using" anyone; it was obvious that was just Vala's own insecurities talking. Cam looked at the clock, 524 am, there was no way he was getting any more sleep, and headed for his shower.

An hour and forty-five minutes later, Cam got out of his car at the mountain. A hot shower and breakfast at Denny's had prepared him for finding Daniel Jackson and discovering what was really going on! Wandering the corridors, Cam looks for both Vala and Daniel. He realized Vala must be on base since she hadn't signed out to go off base. He wonders if Daniel has figured that out yet. Cam chuckles to himself, Vala sure was leading Daniel around by the nose.

Coming around a corner, Cam catches a glimpse of thick black hair entering Sam's lab. That's where she's hiding, Cam smiles and begins whistling "Man-eater" as he walks by the door. Now to find Jackson…. . . .

Cam finally stopped at the commissary and Jackson staring at into his coffee cup looking for the meaning of life.

"Jackson! Wake up" Cam pulled up a chair. "How are you doing?"

Daniel looked at him distractedly, "where's Vala? Have you seen her?'

Cam snorted, "You are hooked man! Totally hooked! Do you think she is hiding in your coffee cup? We need to go have a lil chat sunshine, c'mon"

Daniel left his cold coffee on the table and followed Cam out. Once inside Daniel's office, Cam took a seat in front of the desk while Daniel seemed to wander around the room. He stopped to look at the sofa where Vala liked to nap and finally sat in his office chair. Off came Daniel's glasses as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. Cam watched Daniel with pity in his eyes, "you know Jackson I have wanted to have a chat with you about your girlfriend "situation" and it looks like the time is now. I don't want to rain on your parade, but after all the effort it took to get the band back together; I don't want a Fleetwood Mac effect."

"Huh? Fleetwood what? What in hell are you talking about?" Daniel put his glasses back on, totally lost.

"Fleetwood Mac, the band, you know?" Cameron had forgotten exactly how much of a nerd Jackson was. "Well they were a great 70's band with a married couple as members and when that couple divorced, it destroyed the band. Sheesh didn't you ever do anything normal?"

"What does that have to do with me and Vala? We aren't going to get divorced when we do get married…." Daniel stopped; he looked like he had just been hit with a zat. "oh shit, shit, SHIT!!" Daniel leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.