Author's Note: I'm back with a multi-chapter one this time! I finally got this baby finished. I hope you all like it.

Let me know your thoughts.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, things would've ended way differently for certain people...

o0o

Chapter One

Well, that wasn't how they expected the mission to go.

To be fair, nothing was guaranteed to go as planned when you were a member of SG-1, but since defeating the Ori and the Priors, things had become less…unpredictable. Despite the slightly quieter galaxy, their guard should have never been down even by a smidge, especially when it involved the Lucien Alliance. Sure, it was a simple reconnaissance mission, and they knew going into it there was more than a possibility for things not to go completely in their favor, but they weren't as careful as they needed to be.

Hence why seven members of the Lucien Alliance were now escorting two measly members of SG-1 to the holding cell aboard one of their motherships.

Dr. Daniel Jackson eyed the number of men escorting himself and his teammate and felt himself channeling something Jack O'Neill would say. "A bit excessive, wouldn't you say?" he commented lightly to his fellow inmate and glanced around him again.

Vala Mal Doran grinned at his quip. "Oh, I don't know," she said nonchalantly, "they've never been able to completely capture us and that probably hasn't gone over well with their superiors. If anything, we should feel flattered by the number of men – they wouldn't want us escaping again, now would they?"

"Quiet," one of the guards commanded.

"It's probably a good thing we haven't escaped from a mothership before," Daniel didn't heed the warning. "Oh, wait we have!"

"Not to mention SG-1 along with the Tau'ri have defeated the Goa'uld…and the Replicators," Vala paused for dramatic effect as she shot a look to one of the guards, "oh, and the Ori. The Alliance is small tomatoes compared to the very dead foes."

"Potatoes," Daniel automatically corrected.

"I've heard it both ways."

His face twisted. "I regret letting you watch Psych."

"Letting me?"

"I said silence!"

Daniel couldn't resist adding one last jab – he blamed Jack entirely. "Actually, I believe you said 'quiet.'"

Having just reached the holding cells, the head guard roughly pushed Daniel to the floor, followed closely by Vala.

"Hey!" Daniel snapped at the harsh treatment of his teammate and glared.

The Alliance member merely slammed the cell shut and made a show of locking it before letting his arms slip through the bars and leaned on them. "You may have escaped in the past, but these cells have been fortified by the Lucien Alliance. You won't be escaping anytime soon."

Daniel's eyes shifted to Vala and he noticed the expression on her face and knew the man had spoken too soon. Plus, Sam, Teal'c, and Mitchell were still on the planet below – why they had split up in the first place, he couldn't be certain, but they would come for them.

As if sensing his thoughts, the guard smirked. "If you're holding out hope that the rest of your team will come to your rescue, think again," he informed them with a touch of smugness. "Unlike my fellow comrades who have attempted to capture you in the past, I plan on succeeding. While several of my men on the planet search for the remaining members of your team, the rest of us will be transporting you two directly to the head of the Alliance. You won't be going anywhere in the meantime."

With that, he vacated the room, yelling out orders with his following guards.

Once they were completely alone, Daniel zeroed in on Vala. "Tell me you know what they did to the cell?" he both asked and demanded.

She feigned offense. "How little faith you have in me," her tone matched her expression before she grinned. "Of course, I do. I've seen how they rigged the control panel, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Well, hurry up and get us out of here before we go into hy –" he stopped talking when he felt a familiar feeling and knew it was too late, " –perspace," he finished lamely.

Vala shrugged out of her jacket. "Don't worry," she assured him lightly, "I can do something about that too," she stated confidently and yanked the black long-sleeved shirt off, leaving her in a black tank.

Daniel's eyes went wide, and he quickly looked away while exclaiming, "What are you doing?"

He knew, he just knew she was smirking in amusement. "Calm down, darling," yep, she definitely was. "I lined my bra with something for such an occasion."

He stiffened. "What!"

She let out a smokey chuckle and he knew she was enjoying this way too much. "Relax. I'm not taking it off. I'm perfectly decent. No need to look away."

"I'm good," he immediately dismissed the idea.

"Your loss," on some level, he had a feeling that she was right. "I just need…" she trailed off and he heard shuffles of fabric before – "Aha! Success!" she cheered before she jumped up and sprinted to the control panel.

Daniel eagerly followed her. "Can you get us out?" he asked as he watched her work.

Vala frowned in concentration. "They've changed their technique a little, but I think I can still do it without alerting the bridge that we've escaped," she bit her lip and used whatever she yanked out from her bra. She yelped as a few sparks popped and quickly backed away.

"Careful!" he ordered and grabbed her hand that was in the heart of the panel, inspecting it for any damage. "You okay?"

She pulled her hand away and shook it. "Yeah," she assured him before taking a step closer to the panel. "It'll take a few minutes."

He nodded and stayed back, not wanting to pressure her into rushing only to get hurt or blow their chance at escaping.

She worked at it longer than he expected before she got it and they were free. The Lucien Alliance may believe that no one could escape their cells with their little trick, and to be fair, most people probably couldn't, but most people didn't have a Samantha Carter or a Vala Mal Doran. The Alliance members always did forget just how smart or resourceful they could be.

They made their way to the Glider Bay at Daniel's suggestion. Hiding until they exited hyperspace and jetting off in a glider seemed like the best plan. That is, until they spotted a Cargo ship just sitting there. The plan quickly changed to Vala disabling the hyperdrive long enough for them to fly the Cargo ship out and jump into hyperspace with it. Sneaking their way through the ship wasn't easy, but fortunately for them, the mothership didn't have a full crew, only small patrols here and there.

Vala didn't have time to permanently damage the hyperdrive. If she had, they would have sent someone to come fix it and instantly know that it was tampered with and that they were loose. They wouldn't be able to make it across the ship with everyone looking for them. Instead, she was able to delay it so when it did fail, they would already be well on their way back to the Cargo ship – hopefully on it and ready to go.

Daniel wrinkled his nose at the inside of the ship when they finally did make it back. "This thing gonna fly?" he asked with heavy skepticism.

He could see Vala had her doubts about the Cargo ship as well. They hadn't taken the time to inspect it before changing their plans. It was too late now. He watched as she took the pilot's seat and powered it on. "I'll make it fly," she said with forced bravado. The whole mothership suddenly jerked. Her fingers became wicked fast as she prepared the ship for flight. "That's our cue."

She got it to start flying, but it was rough from where he was sitting. "Vala," he asked warily as the bay door opened and she steered it there.

"I'm trying," she gritted and appeared to be struggling with the steering. "It's difficult to control."

As dim as the situation seemed to be, Daniel had faith she could get the ship out and into hyperdrive – and he was proven right. The second they slipped through the mothership's shield, the Cargo ship took a hit, rocking it harshly.

"Vala!"

"I'm trying!" she yelled and messed with the controls. In pure frustration, she hit the dashboard. "I'm blind. I've got nothing! No navigation, shields, comms, nothing!"

Shit. That wasn't good. So much for their plan.

"What about the hyperdrive?" he asked as he tried to use limited knowledge of Goa'uld technology to fix something.

Before answering, she jerked the ship and barely missed being hit again. "I'm getting warnings from the system. It's unstable," she relayed the information she got from the screen. "I can override the safety protocols but we could end up blown to bits."

The ship took another hit. "Well, we're about to be either way, so might as well try and escape."

She didn't even think about it. "Overriding," she made quick work of it. Before hitting anything, she looked at him and gave him a look he couldn't decipher – to be fair, they were in a life or death situation. "Ready?"

"Do it."

Vala's hand slammed down on the control.

Why did missions never go according to plan?