CHAPTER 12

Daniel Jackson lay in a bed onboard the Odyssey, Dr. Lam's orders, as they made their way to the Pegasus Galaxy. Under her watchful supervision, the only stipend that she would allow for him to even dream of going to Atlantis, he lay there bored out of his mind. Unable to read any of the mission reports and only allowed to be debriefed with information when it was absolutely necessary, he sat skimming thru his mission journal in an attempt to stave off climbing the walls.

Day One

I'm going to Atlantis!

With Vala in the Ori galaxy and Jack stuck in Washington there is nothing to keep me from going this time around. Nothing.

Dr. Rodney McKay arrived thru the Stargate this afternoon. I have to say that I haven't really missed him all that much since he left Earth. His shrill sense of self importance, a quality to which some found endearing, was ever present upon his arrival. Within a matter of minutes he immiedately shot down any hopes that we may of had to reasonably believe that it was possible for the rescue mission to even get off the ground. He had pointed out, what seemed rather obvious, was the error of how we were going to travel to the Ori galaxy thru the Supergate, if such gate was being used to block the Ori from sending any more ships thru. Sam gave him a menacing stare and vowed that she was working on it. The two traded barbs and I feigned a headache to get out of the room. Going back to the infirmary is better than listening to the two of them go at it.

Speaking of the infirmary . . .

Dr. Lam is keeping me confined to the infirmary and is uncertain whether to give me the greenlight to travel to Atlantis. I do all but beg to be allowed to go along. After a talk with Landry she gives me the go ahead, on the conditions that I stay in the infirmary while on Earth and for the entire length of the trip onboard the Odyssey to Atlantis. I am also to check in regularly with Dr. Carson Beckett, Atlantis CMO, who will have the final say in whether or not I get to go.

I understand that this connection I have to Vala is putting my life in danger, and I understand the risks that I am putting my teammates in by going along. However I feel that the risks are worth it.

If you would have asked me after first meeting Vala that I would be doing this kind of thing, for her, I would have never believed you. All I saw of Vala then was a lunatic who kidnapped me, endangered my friends . . . a fruitcake.

But that's changed.

I don't know how, or why or when but it has. When Vala first disappeared, when the Ori gate was destroyed, I refused to write her off. Although the odds were against it, I believed somehow she'd found a way to survive. And it turned out I was right.

I have tried concentrating to see if I could re-establish my connection to her with no luck. I am trying not to get worried as it hasn't really worked for me in the past. However, I cannot help but feel a pit in my stomach.

And the feeling had grown larger as each day had passed. He tried so hard to ignore it but deep down inside he knew.

Something was wrong.

The room was dark. Cold. Despite remembering little after overhearing Tomin's conversation, Vala didn't need much to put together what had happened. She had spent the better part of a week chained to a bed in what looked like quarters of one of the Ori ships. Servants had come in occasionally to feed her and escort her to the bathroom but otherwise she was helpless.

Despite her current situation, her mind worried for Daniel. This whole thing had been a trap for him and she had fell right into it. She had wondered if Seevis and the others had been in on it or if they too were just unwilling pawns in a greater scheme. She had a horrible feeling growing inside of her and despite her attempts to qualm it, things only grew. If she didn't find a way, and soon, she feared that Daniel would be killed.

Vala hadn't seen Tomin since that day. She knew that if she tried there was a way she could reach him. Convince him to let her go so that she could make her way back to the stones, if they hadn't been found, and warn Daniel not to come.

Daniel was the first person to ever truly believe in her. Her. No schemes. No ploys to get into her pants. Nothing. He had rejected her attempts to use him and urged her to look within to find herself. He encouraged her and supported her. He caused her to act out and look out for the welfare of others before herself. He was her hero.

Now, it was her turn to be his.