Mr Mal Doran

spacegypsy1

Chapter Six

~0i0~

"Daniel, if you're a clone I will never forgive you! Ever!" Vala yanked out a chair and sat at the conference table, all but slammed her elbows on the table and with chin in hands scowled unmercifully at him.

"Not a clone." Sam advised, sitting across from Vala. Then smiling at Daniel as he sat next to Vala.

Letting out a little squeak Vala said just above a whisper, "A robot?"

Cam laughed, then took a breath and grabbed his aching side. "Not likely."

"Alternate Universe?"

Carolyn Lam gasped. "Surely this is our universe!" Taking the chair Cam had just pulled out for her Carolyn sat, her eyes going from one person to another.

"But," Vala said, voice low and filled with doubt, finger wagging, "is it our Daniel? My Daniel?"

Jack, Cam and Teal'c all took a seat at the same time. "A Mal Doran Daniel, or Jackson Daniel? Damn." Jack mumbled, "Now I'm confused."

"Perhaps Daniel Jackson ascended and has returned as Daniel Mal Doran." Teal'c accentuated his remark with a high brow raise.

"Nope, that's not it either." Daniel gently slapped the side of his face in dismay. "I'm really not sure why I know that because I'm not really sure of what it means."

Jack look disappointed. "Well, yes, there's that."

Sam pursed her lips while Cam crossed his arms across his chest and they both frowned.

"Daniel?" Vala finally looked right at him, "Any clues at all? And we keep telling you your name but you seem very attached to mine. Which is quite nice."

"Oh. Sorry, Vala. Sometimes I know things but can't connect them to anything else."

"What about that device?" Jack asked.

With a deep sigh, Vala answered, "The one that you all used on me to trick me into letting me think..."

"No, the other time." Jack rolled his eyes. "The memory device. That woman was looking for..."

"Looking for something." Daniel stood suddenly. "She was looking for something in Vala's memories."

As everyone looked at Daniel Cam stood and pointed at him. "They lured us... you there with promise of trade."

"To find information." Sam added.

"But what? Darling? What could it be?"

"I have no idea."

Silence reigned as they all concentrated on the problem at hand. Vala rocking in her chair, Daniel staring down at the table, Sam jotting down notes in a notebook, Cam unconsciously fiddling with Carolyn's hair, Jack checking his watch while matching Vala's rocking motion, Teal'c with a blank stare focused far out through the large window that look out at the Stargate below.

"Well this is a fine mess." Jack said standing. "It's 2200 hours, I'm hungry. Let's convene in the mess hall. Make a plan. Up and at 'em, let's go."

"Ah, I need to see Daniel in the infirmary." Carolyn stated with authority and a sideways glare at Jack.

"Fine, Doc. He's all yours."

"I need to work on some calculations from the readings taken while we were on Planet of the Jackalopes."

Everyone laughed, except for Jack and Daniel. Even Teal'c and Vala got the joke.

"Er, okay." Jack said. "And Carter, see if you can come up with something." He turned to Mitchell with an expectant look.

"Ah, sir, I'm supposed to..."

"Alright, Mitchell! You're on your own. Vala?"

"I'm not hungry." She answered sadly.

"O'Neill, I would accompany you, however..."

"Never mind. See you all at 0700, you do eat breakfast don't you?"

~0i0~

Vala yawned, stretched and crawled into her bed. No sense worrying about Daniel now, she needed to rest. Tomorrow, as they say, is another day. Her eyes closed, she took a deep relaxing breath and...

Suddenly her door opened and Daniel stood in the doorway.

Kneeling up in her bed Vala switched her lamp on. "Wha... Daniel are you alright?"

He turned the overhead light on. "Holy buckets, Vala! What are you wearing?"

She looked down at the pink shortie sleep set. "This old thing? Really? They are called pajamas, a sleep set, shorts and top, comfortable sleeping clothes..."

"I know that!"

"Then why'd you ask?"

"Because. I mean, those, why are you wearing that particular outfit. Again."

Vala's eyes went wide. "Why am I…. What do you mean again?"

Feeling frustrated Daniel snapped out, "Again, means again, like done before and doing again."

"Pfft, that's odd, you being aware of 'again', and why are you here? Are you sure you're alright? Why are you in my quarters?"

"We have separate quarters?" Daniel asked with a knowing grin.

"Really, Daniel, you surely remember now, even if you don't remember before you forgot that we're not married. Besides, this is a military base... regulations and all that."

Daniel approached the bed slowly. "But we're not military." He said softly.

"How do you know that?" She eyed him suspiciously.

~To Be Continued