Strays Don’t Sleep
By: sorrel_rowan
CATEGORY: Alternate Universe, General, Vingette
WARNINGS: None
AUTHOR’S NOTES: This is the kinda first chapter in another random vignette series of mine, united by the single premise of "What if the team had ran into Vala and adopted her around the time Sha're died?" They all fit into this particular AU.
This is a DV tag for Forever And A Day.
AUTHOR’S WEBSITE:
http://www.fanfiction.net/~sorrelrowan
CHAPTER 1: Our Hearts, They Beat and Break
"Let the monsters
see you smile,
Let them see you smilling.
Do I hold you too
tightly?
When will the hurt kick in?
Life is beautiful, but
it's complicated.
We barely make it."
- Vega 4
Vala watches him from across the room. They're a puzzle, SG-1, and she's thought it before, but she's feeling it now. They're a puzzle, but they fit together even when they don't look like they should. It reminds her of a toy she had when she was younger, full of jagged edges and curved ones, pieces big and small. A heap of junk, she'd thought, until she'd put the pieces together and somehow formed a perfect square.
She's not sure how to say she knows how he feels more acutely than they know, because that means admitting things she isn't sure she can yet.
He looks up, squinting raw eyes over glasses and waving her wordlessly to a seat.
Vala sits, shifts. Purses her lips, relaxes them. Pouts. Smiles a little. Walks up and down the room once. Freezes when his glasses hit the table very softly and he rubs his eyes, fixing her with a glare.
"What are you doing here, Vala?"
She shrugs. "I don't know. I thought you'd like the company."
He blinks and looks away, then back. "You know my wife just died, right?"
She nods, pursing her lips again.
His eyes are bright and there's an undercurrent of tension in his otherwise even voice. "So I'm in so many ways not interested in your propositions right now. You know that, right?"
She blinks, her eyebrows coming together sharply. "Daniel, as much as I adore brooding men-"
He stands up. "You know something, that's enough. Vala, just get out. I'm not interested and I don't want to hear this right now. Proposition me in a decade or more but not until then."
The silence is electric until Vala nods. Daniel assumes she leaves while he sighes and sits down at the desk again, trying to remember what other reasons than Sha're he had for doing it.
"How many times did you see her die?"
Daniel doesn't move, trying to get past the suddenly formed lump in his throat and the haze of sheer anger. His voice is quiet but shaking. "Is this some form of sick joke? Your idea of fun? Am I here for your amusement? My wife just died. You think this is joke material to anyone but you? Or maybe the Goa'uld?"
Vala steps up to the desk, eyes crackling, the last question hitting the mark like a slap. Daniel's macabre and masochistic inner self awaits the punchline, but can't see a hint of wickedness in either her posture or her expression despite trying hard to find it.
"Did you see her live? Wake up beside her - some miracle brought her back? And then it didn't? Did you lose her over and over?"
Daniel freezes in place, hand going unconciously to the place on his shoulder hers had lain in his mind.
"Yes, I did," Daniel gives in and shouts. "Does that make you happy to know that? Have you had your fun at my expense for the day?"
"Would anyone else have asked?" Vala shoots back, stepping closer and putting both hands on the desk.
"Where are you going with this, Vala?"
Vala pauses and meets his eyes, hers more open than they'd ever been in her time among them. "You won't thank me for saying this."
Daniel nods, weighing his options. "You won't leave me in peace until you've said it."
She shrugs, the two sharing the slightest of grins before Vala turns serious again. "Qetesh. The goa'uld that took me as a host was called Qetesh, but you know that already."
Despite some far corner of his mind still being incapable of coherent thought and still being wrapped in that never-ending moment of Sha're's creation, Daniel can't help but be interested in a glimpse at Vala's past - and how much it seemed to be costing her to give it. He nods.
Vala takes a deep breath, wishing that she could have started with some easier secret. "The week I was taken, she killed the man I was going to marry."
Something leaden sinks into Daniel's stomach. "Vala, I think I know what you-"
"Not yet you don't," came the answer. "Qetesh made me relive it. Incessantly. I saw it from every angle, every possible variation she could conjure. It was fun for her - at my expense." Daniel winces. "So when I say, Daniel," she raises her eyes to look at him, "that I know how you feel, for once I'm not just being trite."
Daniel swallowed and met her eyes, forcing an edge of a smile. "Why wouldn't I thank you for saying that?"
"Because some day, not soon, Daniel," Vala continues, a bitter edge in her voice and her expression, "You might even be relieved."
He nods again. "You're right, I can't thank you for saying that. Even if I think you might be right."
CHAPTER 2: Civil Sin
"Dr. Jackson," Maybourne greets Daniel. "I'm sorry for the loss of your wife."
Daniel blinks but sits, thinking harsh thoughts and knowing
what Jack had tried to keep from him. 'Sorry'
they couldn't experiment on Sha're's body.
"I'm going to need to know about the mission to P8X 412."
Daniel looks up, surprised, and blinks. "What? Why? That was a month ago."
"That is not your concern, Dr. Jackson."
Daniel shakes his head. "No...no, I think it is. And I don't think I'll be able to tell you anything that isn't in the mission report."
Maybourne's eyes flash and he meets Daniel's eyes. "We are evaluating what to do with Vala Mal Doran and require more information than was in your report, Doctor. The NID feels it has been gracious in allowing you time between your wife's death and now to collect your thoughts."
"Sha're's death had nothing to do with Vala," Daniel automatically defends, sitting back. "They're two completely separate events. What- what use is this? And what do you mean, 'what to do with?'"
"Doctor-" Maybourne raises his voice. "Just repeat what happened on P8X 412."
"Fine," Daniel sits back. "It was fifteen days before Sha're died."
Maybourne blinks at the exacting nature of Daniel's tone, but the archaelogist's glare convinces him to keep silent.
* * * *
PX8 412, one month
previous:
"What did he just say to me?"
"Jack-"
"Daniel."
Daniel sighs and rattles off the declaration in one breath. "Put down your weapons in the name of our all powerful goddess, Quetesh, or we will burn and flay you in her name."
Jack carefully takes off his sunglasses and looks at the younger man. "Once more with feeling?"
"I'm not the one saying it," Daniel defends, "And they said it in English, Jack."
"I know that," Jack shoots back.
"Then why did you ask me to repeat it?"
"Dramatic effect? Stalling?" Jack blinks and turns to the natives, holding up his gun. "I'm going to sit this...on the floor...now." Sam and Teal'c follow.
"You didn't answer my question," Daniel mutters, sitting his hand gun on the sandy floor.
"That's because they were getting twitchy."
Daniel grins. "Twitchy."
"It's a word," Jack retorts as the natives creep closer.
"We don't mean you any harm," Daniel begins, "We're peaceful explorers-"
"Daniel-" Sam interrupts as the leader activates his staff weapon.
"I should be quiet now?" Daniel asks over his shoulder.
Sam nods.
* * * *
"So this isn't good."
"We're in a cell, waiting for the resident goa'uld to come back to execute us, Jack. It's not usually a good sign."
"We've been in worse places. Remember that little planet with the rain and the treehouses?"
Sam nods. "PX2 754. The resin from the abnormally large trees showed a remarkable ability to withstand UV radiation." She grins and sits up. "Area 51 really thinks it could help make huge advances in sun protection."
Jack blinks. "Carter, did you just go all glowy over sunblock?"
Sam looks at Daniel, confused, and then back to Jack.
"It could prove instrumental in lowering the climbing incidence of skin
cancer in countries such as Austrailia."
Daniel ducks his head with a grin as Jack lets out an 'oi.'
"What'd I say?" Sam asks Daniel quietly.
They're in a cell in the basement, and Jack is pacing. Sam raises an eyebrow and shares a look with Daniel.
"They're not jaffa," Sam says quietly, looking at Teal'c. The former first prime inclines his head in agreement.
Daniel frowns. "Who is this 'Quetesh'?"
Sam, Jack and Teal'c all look at him in silence. Daniel rolls his eyes. "I mean in the scheme of the goa'uld. Obviously I know that in Earth mythology, Quetesh is the husband of Min and the goddess of love and fertility."
There is another beat of silence. "Obviously," Jack remarks in a tone of amusement. He looks to Teal'c. "How does the real life barbie match up to the box?"
"Colonel O'Neill, I assume you are making a cultural reference I do not understand," Teal'c comments, pausing. "Quetesh is affliated most commonly with the system lord Baal, at present of minor stature among their number."
"So not a system lord," Daniel confirms. Teal'c nods.
"Selmak did say there were
only perhaps
As dust crumbles onto their heads from above and the walls begin to shake slightly, Jack looks to Teal'c. "Sounds like an engine. Mothership?"
"Perhaps that of a smaller vessel, such as an al'kesh or powerfully equipped cargo ship," Teal'c corrects, eyes on the ceiling.
"Quetesh is back?" Sam asks.
"How soon before they come for us, do you think?" Daniel looks at Jack and Teal'c.
"Oh, I don't mind if she takes her time," Jack remarks. "Does her hair, maybe files her fangs."
* * * *
"Hey," Daniel prods Sam in the arm gently. "How long do you think we've been in here?"
"Coming up on three days," Jack answers from the small cot, eyes still covered by his hat.
Daniel raises his eyebrows at Sam. Jack continues, "I learnt how to count in the dark in an Iraqi cell."
"How long were you-"
Daniel breaks off at the sound of rushed footsteps coming to their cell. He stands, facing the figure who rushes in. "You're Azdak, right?"
The man nods, eyes harassed. He throws two canteens of water through the bars. "Our goddess is in seclusion to prepare for the coming battle."
"Oh, there's always one of those," Jack mutters.
Daniel closes his eyes in a long blink and then looks at Azdak again. "Azdak, I understand that this is going to sound crazy, but Quetesh is not your god - or a god at all. See, what you think of as magic-"
"I will not listen to your lies!" Azdak interrupts, stepping back. He takes a breath. "Our goddess will summon you in the morning."
As the door slams, Jack raises his hat a little to peer from under it. "The wizard will see us now?"
"In the morning," Daniel corrects. "Jack, we need to convince these people that -"
"I agree, it's wrong, liberate and all that, Daniel, but I think getting out alive should be our top priority." Jack slaps a hand against the bars. "First step, letting them open the door for us."
* * * *
They stand at the sound of the door opening.
As ten men surround the cage and point staff weapons in their direction, Daniel shares a look with Jack. "What's plan B again?"
"Our goddess informed us you would attempt to escape when we opened your cell," Azdak proclaimed proudly. "She is truly omniscient."
"Oh, for crying out loud," Jack muttered. "She's a snake in the head of an innocent woman. One that happened to have a tiny fraction of common sense."
"Silence!" Azdak shouted, gesturing to the door. "You will walk, and you-" he glared at Jack, "Will walk in silence."
* * * *
"Kneel before your god, Quetesh!"
"He called her goddess earlier," Daniel mutters.
"Hey, Azdak!" Jack calls out. "Got a crush on your almighty snake-head?"
A villager aims a kick behind his knee and forces Jack to kneel.
"Be still, Azdak," comes a quiet, feminine voice. "This one amuses me. Do not kill him yet."
Azdak gasps and falls to his knees. A beat later the others in the room follow.
Daniel looks up, and sees a woman of astonishing thinness with long dark hair and showing far too much skin. She weaves her way across the room, lifting Jack's chin and raising an eyebrow. "There is more to this one than meets the eye."
"I'm just lucky," Jack retorts sarcastically.
Daniel notices Sam's eyes are widening, and she is sharing alarmed glances with Teal'c. He nods gravely.
"We uh...we request a private interview with you...my lord," Sam says quietly, stumbling over the words.
"We do?" Jack and Daniel add in unison.
Daniel frowns but understands, turning to Quetesh and nodding. "That's right! We do. We uh...we have information we can impart only to your uh ears. My lord. From...from a-" Daniel makes a show of looking around the room nervously. "From a system lord wishing to express his ardent admiration."
Quetesh pauses and turns to look at him as if seeing him for the first time. "You are not unattractive," the goa'uld comments thoughtfully. Jack chokes a little and mutters something about snake women that Daniel is happy not to hear.
"What was that for?!" Daniel shouts when she slaps him.
"You are a poor errand boy," Quetesh smiles slyly. "No system lord can be so attractive as the messenger." She pauses contemplatively. "Perhaps the next time I see you, you will be a system lord yourself. Or perhaps I shall keep you as my own...errand boy. I imagine you can perform many tasks to please me." She grinned. "I am all-beautiful as well as all knowing, my new lotar."
It is Daniel's turn to choke. "Yes, yes, that would be an...an honour, indeed, yes, my lord."
Quetesh smiles with a bitter edge. "It is an honour-" she almost spits the word, "beyond all you can imagine." She looks at them archly, imperiously shoving Daniel back. "Now, which one of you speaks at a lesser pace than this one?"
Teal'c repeats Daniel's 'message', but slowly and gravely. Quetesh raises an eyebrow and orders her men from the room, warning SG-1 that they'll be nearby if they should attempt anything.
Azdak protests.
"I am your god, now leave," Quetesh orders.
Sam and Teal'c stand up as they leave.
"Did I say you could do that?" Quetesh remarks, looking at them with her hand on her hip and then coughing, as if caught out of character. "Kneel before your god!"
"You can drop the act," Sam comments, amused.
"Impertinence!" Quetesh shouts, both hands now on her hips.
Jack and Daniel look at Teal'c and Sam. "What's going on, Carter?"
"She has no symbiote, sir," Sam reports, eyes on the dark-haired woman's.
Daniel looks between 'Quetesh' and Sam.
"I agree, Colonel O'Neill," Teal'c puts in. "She is indeed a former host, but currently free of any goa'uld symbiote."
Jack rolls his eyes. "Explains the lack of jaffa. They'd know she's just holding court with a toy."
"What are you talking about?" Quetesh looks at Jack curiously, then seems to shake herself. "And I'll have you know I have dominion over many planets!"
Daniel looks at her, eyebrows clicking together. "How can you do this? Exploit innocent villagers, knowing - being a victim yourself of the goa'uld? It's barbaric! I mean-"
She rolls her eyes and winces, raising her hands as she looks to the door. "Would you please keep your voice down? I can't have my worshippers finding out."
"So you don't deny it," Daniel nods, voice barely contained.
"No," she shoots back. "I do what I have to to survive. And it's not as if I treat them any worse than Quetesh did. I'm a wonderful god, I'll have you know."
"What are you doing?" Daniel asks in what would be a long-suffering tone if he'd known her for more than five minutes.
"I am packing my things, since you clearly aren't going to let me continue here," 'Quetesh' retorts, pulling cases out onto the stage area.
As Daniel looks incredulously between the cases and the woman, he shakes his head repeatedly before turning to Jack. "These people need to know the truth."
"The truth is always a matter of interpretation," Quetesh calls over from her small pile of cases. She puts her hand on her hips. "I don't kill people. I get them great prices for naquadah they wouldn't know what to do with otherwise. Without me, this planet would be dead by now. You could say that I am their god, symbiote or not."
"What a load of crap," Jack responds first, taking the case she is holding and throwing it back into the cupboard she had removed it from. "And I bet you take a healthy cut of that naquadah."
"Hey, it's my handling fee," Quetesh retorts, reaching for the case. Jack dangles it just a touch out of reach. "And while I'm here, other goa'ulds are not. Did you consider that?"
"It's still a lie," Daniel interjects, "And it shouldn't be the only reason they don't follow false gods."
"Shouldn't, wouldn't, couldn't," she shoots back dismissively. "Does it matter? The end result still makes everyone happy."
"Yes, it matters!" Daniel raises his voice. "It matters because it does - if we have to play gods to defeat them then it makes us no better than them."
"Is he always like this?" Quetesh frowns and looks at Jack.
"Pretty much."
"Hey!"
Jack blinks and wags a finger at Quetesh. "Doesn't mean he's wrong! This-" He gestures at her, "This con of yours ends now, starting with you turning off that voice."
Quetesh rolls her eyes and raises her hand to her throat. A smattering of footsteps halts her. She frowns over Sam's shoulder. "Azdak? What is it?"
"A great ship!" the man pants. "It lands, in the far distance over the hills! The battle for which you prepared has come, my lord! I will prepare our troops!"
As Azdak runs out again, Quetesh's hand remains above her throat and she looks into a distant space. She blinks and takes a shuddering breath. "Well, I didn't see that coming."
* * * *
Present:
Daniel pauses. "I need to eat something."
"But doctor, I have more-"
"You heard him, Maybourne,"
Jack says as he walks in. "This 'interview' is over."
To be continued…
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