Season 10 Episode 8 – Momento Mori

Episode summary: Daniel takes Vala out for dinner at a fancy restaurant, as a thank you to her for working so hard and proving him right for asking Landry to trust her. When Vala goes to the bathroom, she is drugged and kidnapped. Charlotte Mayfield, a previous crony of Ba'al's and now infested with the goa'uld Athena, questions Vala using a memory recall device. However, when the SGC attempt to rescue Vala, there is an overload in the device and Vala is left with amnesia. SG-1 searches for her, and they get a lead when Vala is taken into a police station as a witness to an armed robbery. Imposters take Vala before SG-1 can get there, and SG-1 pursue. They end up catching up to her in a warehouse, and Daniel convinces a confused Vala – who has started remembering bits and pieces – to trust him and come back with them.

Author's note: I have written an episode tag for the Our Legacy series for Episode 9: Company of Thieves. However, I am posting that one as a separate story (i.e. not as a chapter in this story) because it gets an M rating, whereas this story is a T. It's not essential to the Our Legacy series, and it's pretty dark, so if you want to skip it, it won't matter. The next chapter here will be Episode 10/11: The Quest.

EPISODE PREQUEL:

"You should take Vala out to dinner."

Daniel looked up at Sam and frowned in that puzzled way that she had always found adorable.

"Why?"

"It would be a nice thing to do."

"Plus, she doesn't get the chance to get off base much." Jack added. "Remember how I used to take Teal'c out occasionally in the early years to really experience Earth culture? We went to hockey games, the movies … jello wrestling …"

Sam looked at him sharply, narrowing her eyes. She couldn't tell if he was serious, but he looked shifty, as though he might be.

Daniel coughed. "Ok, but, why me specifically? You're pretty close with her these days, right?" He said, looking at Sam.

"It would mean more to her if you did it." Sam explained reasonably. "Plus, you're the one who originally convinced General Landry to take a chance on her. Take her out to a fancy restaurant or something as a thank you for proving you right."

Jack nodded emphatically at her side, and Daniel looked between the pair of them suspiciously.

"What are you two up to?" He asked.

They both adopted innocent expressions.

"You know, ever since you two got married, it's almost like you share a brain." Daniel told them. "It's creepy."

"Don't be ridiculous Daniel. If I tried to share Carter's brain, my head would explode." Jack said in a perfectly serious tone of voice.

Sam just grinned.

"Fine." Daniel said with an exaggerated sigh. "I'll do it. Do you want to dictate where as well, or do I get to choose that myself?" He asked sarcastically.

"I could offer suggestions if you like." Sam offered helpfully, and both men turned to look at her with incredulous expressions. "What?"

"I think our work here is done." Jack said, looking at her and canting his head at the door. "Let's go scare the crap out of Mitchell."

"Ask her." Sam said brightly to Daniel, and led Jack out of the room.

"Do you think we pushed too hard?" She asked when the elevator doors had closed.

"No, I don't think so. We didn't suggest it should be a date, or a romantic restaurant … I think we're fine."

"I'm just worried about the lack of progress given how old Serena looked, we can't be that far away from when she was supposed to be conceived …"

"It'll all work out fine, Sam. Surely if we've learnt anything these past six years, it's that."

She nodded.

"Is Walter ready?" He asked as the doors opened again.

"Waiting on your call. And Teal'c is already in position with the megaphone."

"Excellent."

EPISODE SEQUEL:

"I feel awful." Sam said into the phone receiver.

"We couldn't have known she'd be kidnapped." Jack said reasonably.

"Still, if we hadn't pushed Daniel into taking her to dinner …"

"She would have gone out of the mountain with one of you eventually. It was just a matter of timing."

"We shouldn't try and force the timeline along. Clearly it's unnecessary and dangerous."

"How's she doing?" Jack asked.

"She's a little shell-shocked, but the Tok'ra helped restore her memory with the same kind of memory device that caused the amnesia in the first place. She'll be ok."

"Good. That's good."

"I think Daniel blames me."

"No he doesn't." Jack argued. "You blame you, and you're projecting onto him."

"He should blame me."

"Carter …"

"I'm sorry sir, I'm just worried about Vala. She's my friend and I feel responsible."

"Look, the bottom line is she's going to be ok, and we nabbed a bunch more Trust operatives."

"I suppose."

"Next time we'll double date, and you can be her bathroom bodyguard."

Sam laughed. "I'm not sure Daniel would be too happy about that."

"After this he might welcome the extra muscle."

"Yeah." She sighed. "I'm gonna go check on her again."

"Ok. Call me tonight?"

"I will."