Season 10 Episode 2 – Morpheus

Episode summary: SG-1 travel to Vagonbrei, one of the worlds Arthur was reported to have travelled to in his search for the Sangraal. The village is devoid of all life, human and animal. Daniel finds references to Morgan La Fay in the village library. They fall sick with the same sleeping sickness that killed the villagers, and have to stay awake while searching for a cure. A parasite has infested their brains and is feeding on melatonin. The excess production of melatonin is making them want to sleep. If they sleep, they will die of a brain ansurysm when the parasite grows too large. Teal'c and Mitchell notice a lizard living in Morgan La Fay's secret cave system, and they capture it, hoping its immunity to the sickness will provide them with a cure. Meanwhile, Vala has been undergoing a psychiatric evaluation to determine her mental state, and whether she is fit to be a serving member of the SGC. The SGC sends a medical team in hazmat gear just as Sam and Daniel are succumbing to the illness, and they put them in medical quarantine boxes, while Sam tries to explain that they can't fall asleep. Mitchell has collapsed in the cave system, while Teal'c has taken the lizard back to the village. We are left to assume that the SGC recovers the lizard and reverse engineers a cure in time to save SG-1. Vala passes her evaluation.

Sam woke up slowly, and then had a start when her memory started to come back. They weren't supposed to sleep, but there were men in hazmat suits trying to make them, and … a coffin?

She looked around. The infirmary. Not a coffin, then.

"Hello." Vala's voice drew Sam's attention to her right, where Vala was sitting on the other side of Daniel.

"What's going on?" Sam asked blearily, her voice croaky from disuse.

"They made up some sort of potion to fix you all and pumped it into your bloodstream." Vala said, indicating the IV attached to Sam's arm as she approached the bed.

"The parasite's gone?" Sam asked.

"Well, dead anyway." Vala plopped down on the seat at Sam's bedside.

"You're the first to wake up. I would have bet a considerable amount on it being Teal'c." Vala said, sounding impressed.

Sam blinked slowly. She felt like she was thinking through mud.

"Probably something to do with Jolinar. Sedatives haven't worked properly on me since I was a host."

Vala looked shocked. "You were a host?"

"A couple of times in the last eight years. Both times the symbiote died."

"Oh." Vala looked disturbed. "I didn't know that."

"It's not something I talk about much."

"No, I imagine not."

Sam winced in sympathy, well aware that however nightmarish her own experiences had been, Vala's possession by Qetesh had been much worse.

"So when do I get to meet Beth?" Vala asked suddenly.

Sam froze. "What?"

"You were talking in your sleep."

"I don't talk in my sleep."

"Well … you all were, a bit. Must have been a symptom of the cure. Daniel was talking about the Ancients, and said quite a bit in languages I didn't recognise. Teal'c was muttering about Apophis. Colonel Mitchell seemed to be having some sort of disturbing dream about his grandmother, and you kept asking for your daughter, Beth."

Oh … crap.

"I don't have a daughter." Sam said tensely.

"Really? That's quite odd."

"Must have been a dream."

Vala cocked her head and looked at Sam speculatively. "That's ok." She said quietly. "I don't much want to talk about my daughter either."

Sam didn't know what to say to that.

Teal'c interrupted the awkward moment by waking in an explosive surge from his infirmary bed, and Vala trotted off to calm him down and reassure him as she had Sam.

Sam watched her do it, with a little sad smile. She thought that it almost seemed as though Vala was re-directing her mothering instincts to SG-1, and she was suddenly reminded forcefully of Janet Fraiser. It was strange, the two women didn't have much in common.

She lay her head back on the pillow with a sigh, resolving to call Cassie as soon as she could, and to make a conscious effort to befriend Vala.

They took Vala out for dinner, to celebrate her being made an official probationary member of the SGC. They went to O'Malley's bar and grill – Sam and Daniel exchanged concerned looks when they realised where Mitchell had driven them, but luckily they weren't prevented from entering.

The dinner was lovely, Vala had a great time – which of course was the point – and Sam resisted the urge to play pool with the guys in case that was enough to make a member of staff recognise her.

After a few more drinks than was probably sensible – at Vala's insistence – Sam found herself curled up in the corner of a booth with her head on the other woman's shoulder, watching the guys play her favourite bar game very, very badly.

"It's a bit tame, isn't it?" Vala was asking. "They're just gently hitting some little balls with some big sticks. Where's the excitement? Or the peril?"

"It's a game of skill." Sam explained in a mildly slurred voice. "It would look more interesting if I was playing. They all suck."

"And you can't play because …"

"Because the last time I played pool in this bar I drew a lot of attention to myself and then got banned for life. If I play and they recognise me I might get us all kicked out."

"Samantha Carter." Vala sounded shocked. "I didn't know you were that kind of girl."

"What kind of girl is that?"

"My kind." Vala grinned. "I think you and I could be very good friends."

Sam grinned back and patted Vala's head. "Ok."

"You're drunk." Vala informed her.

"A bit."

"Huh." Vala inspected the bottom of her mostly empty glass. "I thought this stuff wasn't affecting me because I was a host." She mouthed the last word, dropping her voice to barely a whisper.

"Really?" Sam asked, straightening up. "Maybe it's just your physiology is different because you're from another planet. Or maybe you're just really good at holding your liquor. Everyone's different."

Vala had raised her eyebrows at the 'other planet' comment.

"I thought we were supposed to not talk about that in public?"

"Talk about what? Alcohol?"

"Never mind." Vala smiled and shook her head.

"Well, it's definitely not the host thing, because I can still get drunk." Sam said happily.

"Clearly."

"I'm not that bad." Sam rolled her eyes.

Vala cocked her head and studied Sam speculatively.

"Samantha?"

"Hmm?"

"Who's Beth?"

"My daughter. In the future." Sam's eyes widened. "Oops. I wasn't supposed to tell you that."

Vala smiled widely. "Don't worry darling. I won't say a word."

Sam groaned as she woke up. She had the most awful hangover, and couldn't remember how she got home.

A lot of aspirin and a few glasses of water later, she called Mitchell. There was no point calling Daniel, if she was this bad, he would be comatose.

"What?" Mitchell answered grumpily.

"It's Sam. Are you hungover too?"

"No. Maybe. Yes. It's Vala's fault."

"Yeah, I'm blaming her too."

"We're not working today, right?"

"Nope, that's why we went out last night, remember? Hey, do you know how I got home?" She asked.

"Cab. You shared with me and Daniel. You don't remember?"

"No, I'm drawing a blank after the third Martini. What about Vala and Teal'c?"

"They were completely sober, both of them. Teal'c drove them back to the mountain."

"Yeah, apparently Vala can hold her liquor better than anybody I've ever met …" She trailed off as a particular conversation suddenly came back to her. "Oh crap."

"What?"

"I just remembered something. I have to go."

"What is it?"

"Nothing. See you Monday." She hung up and stared at the phone. Did I really tell Vala about Beth? What else did I say? Crap!

She showered and dressed quickly, and then drove to the mountain. She knocked on the door of Vala's quarters, relieved when Vala was in and awake.

"Good morning Samantha." Vala said brightly. "You look absolutely awful."

"Thanks." Sam replied sarcastically. "Vala … I don't remember everything that happened last night, but I do remember telling you something I shouldn't have, and I need to know how much I said."

"This is about Beth, I take it?" Vala said, smiling sweetly.

Damn, I didn't imagine it. "Yes."

"Don't worry Colonel, you didn't say much at all. You just said that Beth is your daughter in the future."

"Ok, well, that's all I remember saying. Are you sure that was it?"

"Yep."

"Right. Good."

"I just have one question." Vala said.

"Just one?"

"How do you know that in the future you'll have a daughter?"

Sam winced. "I can't really say."

"Some sort of secret prophecy thing?"

"I guess you could call it that."

"That's fascinating." Vala flopped down on the bed resting her head on her fists, looking up at Sam intently. "What else do you know about the future?"

"Nothing." Sam said firmly. "Absolutely nothing."

She stood up and headed for the door, making a mental note never to get drunk around Vala again. Her head throbbed. Or maybe I'll just never get drunk again period. That's probably a better plan.

"Oh Samantha?" Vala called.

Sam stopped at the door. "Yes?"

"I believe this belongs to you." Vala walked over to her and dropped a piece of paper in Sam's hand. Sam unfolded it, and her heart fell into her stomach as she looked at it. It was the printout of the picture of Beth, Jake and Serena that she kept in her wallet.

Oh, Holy Hannah …

She looked at Vala, who was grinning at the expression on Sam's face. "Run along now."

Sam reached blindly backwards for the door handle, her eyes never leaving Vala's, feeling very unnerved.

Yeah. Never getting drunk again. Ever.