Tempted by James Dean
By: dvshipper
CATEGORY: Drama
WARNINGS: None
AUTHOR’S NOTES: Thanks to taraleesg1, the awesome-est beta ever. Inspired by the Gretchen Wilson song “When I Think About Cheating”.
AUTHOR’S WEBSITE:
http://dvshipper.livejournal.com/
Men in green BDUs crowded the noisy commissary, getting food and conversing with comrades. It was in the afternoon when every day-shift person ate lunch. If you weren’t engrossed in work or off world, the commissary is where you were at lunch. Finished with her short mission report and on the planet, Vala sauntered through the doors of the commissary in search of amusement.
Daniel was still back in his office, working on some translation just like every day of the past two weeks. Being a new couple of four weeks, Vala thought they should be spending more time together, but that wasn’t the case. It didn’t help that they decided to keep their relationship completely secret for the first while, not knowing if they would be put on separate teams. He stayed holed up in his dusty office with his books and Vala flitted from office to office, an iPod her only constant companion. She was getting lonely, and fast.
Cameron was in the gym, running on one of the abandoned treadmills. There were usually not too many people in the gym at lunchtime, in other words it was the perfect time to work out. Small droplets of sweat snuck down his forehead and back, tickling skin as they went. Taking a drink from the bottle of water in the cup holder in front of him, Cameron glanced around at the few people who were also taking advantage of the deserted workout space. Much to his surprise, Vala walked in the double doors that were propped open.
Vala took a bite of her cinnamon-covered snickerdoodle as she made her way over to a hard breathing Cameron. He was quite the sight, all delicious sweat and blue eyes. Leaning onto one of the neighboring machines and propping her elbow up, Vala just watched him for a moment. The muscles in his neck strained and glistened. His gray t-shirt was slightly darkened down the middle of his back, as if a guide of where to run your fingers. Jogging was beginning to look a lot more appealing to Vala.
“What’re you doing here?” Cameron broke the silence first, glancing at her briefly. If he focused on her too much, he’d probably face plant right into the plastic control console.
“Well, I’m bored and the commissary held nothing promising except cookies of course,” Vala replied, trying not to sound flustered at watching him.
“Still doesn’t explain why you’re here,” Cameron pried a little further.
“To be honest, everyone told me basically to leave them alone so they could get some work done. But you wouldn’t do that would you?” Vala asked with that smile that could melt any man’s resolve in five seconds. Watching as he pushed the red button that stopped the treadmill, Vala couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking.
“I’ve got an idea. Meet me in fifteen minutes at the elevators that go topside,” Cameron told Vala with a grin as he stepped down from the machine and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. If he remembered right, there was some extra gear for her in his room. Always the prepared one, he kept some on base just in case he met a pretty girl (or alien) he wanted to impress.
* * * *
Vala stood in front of the elevators, impatiently waiting for what Cameron was going to do. After he had left her standing in the gym to go take a shower, she was more than curious. Boredom killers were good, but they were always better when off base.
Cameron exited his quarters carrying the necessities for the little outing with Vala, feeling very cool. It wasn’t very often that he got to wear the clothes he had changed into. Most of the time when he came into the base in the morning, it was just in normal civilian clothes or his plain brown leather jacket. Moving down the hall and up a different elevator, he spotted Vala. Dressed in fitted jeans, a blue t-shirt hidden behind a tailored black leather jacket, and her famous leather boots, she looked amazing. Perfect, Cameron thought as he approached her. “You ready?” he asked, however he saw that she definitely was.
“Yes, but are you going to tell me what we’re doing?” Vala asked, following him into the car of the elevator. At first she had been shocked by what he was wearing. Perfectly fitted jeans and the sexiest black leather jacket she’d seen in a long time. (Nothing came close to the duster she’d seen about nine years ago.) A shiny black helmet was in his hand, along with a slightly different one in the other, giving her a slight clue as to his plans.
“You’ll see,” Cameron wanted to keep it a surprise even though he knew she was less than patient. They exited the elevator into the parking garage. Many of the cars were shiny and clean, clearly those of the nurses and administrative workers—people who had lives outside the base. Then there were those with a dust covering and messy interiors that belonged to personnel on SG teams and scientists who never left their labs and slept on their couches. At the closest, smallest parking spaces there were the motorcycles of the few people on base that rode them. One of them was Cameron’s; a silver, fairly new Ducati GT 1000 with just enough space for two.
Vala’s face lit up when she put two and two together, figuring out why Cameron was all leathered up. The thought of sitting behind him, hugging the curves and corners like Sam described once about her old Indian made her heart pump a little quicker. Though she went on missions on a regular basis, this was an adventure of a different kind. Excitement coursed through her like the flashing, streaming interior of hyperspace.
Cameron handed her the helmet before grabbing the handles of the bike, putting in the kickstand with his foot and sitting ever so slowly down on the seat. The motor roared to life with a kick, sending the sound reverberating off the concrete walls and pillars of the garage. Cameron threw a look behind him, motioning for Vala to sit behind him before slipping his own helmet on.
Vala obeyed, put the slightly heavy helmet over her pigtails and swung her leg over the bike to straddle the seat. The feeling of sitting flush behind Cameron was only made better by the smell of leather and the rumble of the engine beneath her. She was a little unsure of where to put her feet until Cameron pointed to the small pegs on the sides.
As they left the garage and sped onto the main road, Vala was smiling like she hadn’t for a long while. Her hands found their way around Cameron’s waist when he accelerated, gripping hold as if he was James Dean and she were Marilyn Monroe like in that painting she’d seen. Wind rushed past; just warm enough to be enjoyable. Scenery whizzed by, but all Vala could think about was the growing feeling in her stomach. Yes, she was very happy at the moment, but she couldn’t get rid of a nagging feeling that something just wasn’t right.
Vala got off the motorcycle and took her helmet off with
precision, reminding her of the first time she had met Daniel. That thought was
pushed to the side however when Cameron joined her to lean up against the stone
wall at the edge of the hill. Leaning up against her hip in a seemingly
friendly tap, she saw him grin. “Nice isn’t it?”
“Yes, very much so,” Vala replied, her smile widening.
Breathing in the deep, sweet air was heaven packaged as the state of
“So I was thinking,”
Vala paused for a moment and her smiled faded the slightest bit. That was the nagging feeling in her gut telling her this wasn’t right. Cameron was asking her on a date and she didn’t know what to do. Telling him no would prompt the answering question of why and she really didn’t want to tell anyone, even Cameron, about her relationship with Daniel if she hadn’t discussed it with him first. Saying yes was something she just couldn’t bring herself to do, as tempting as the offer was. Agreeing to go out with Cameron was something Daniel would never forgive her for. He’d think she was the same person who he first met, not the person she’d grown to become.
“What do you say?” Cameron grinned wider, thinking he knew the answer.
“I actually have to get back to the base to help Daniel with some boring translation, which will probably take the rest of the day,” Vala made an excuse that wasn’t entirely untrue. Daniel probably did need help and that was the easiest way out. Cameron’s smile dropped, showing his disappointment.
“Oh, yeah, no problem. Maybe some other time,” Cameron responded, grabbing his helmet from its place on the seat of the motorcycle. He should’ve known Daniel would be the excuse, but you never know until you try, right? Vala’s excuse was just to save him the disappointment of hearing “I’m actually taken.”
* * * *
The ride back to the base was a little uncomfortable. Not
that the motorcycle was any different but the people on it were. Vala kept her
hands to herself a little and
They parked next to the motorcycle that belonged to Sergeant Siler and headed back down into the mountain. The inside of the elevator filled with an awkward silence. Neither wanting to embarrass themselves or their companion both continued to stay quiet and look straight at the gray metal doors. It wasn’t until the doors slid open that one broke the silence.
“Vala, I’m sorry. I just thought—“ Cameron was cut off by Vala before he could speak any further.
“Don’t be. You had every right to ask me out. I just don’t
have time right now,” Vala tried to smile slightly but knew the pain in her
eyes would give her away.
They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways; Vala toward Daniel’s office and Cameron to his quarters. Vala was locked in a debate within her mind of whether to tell Daniel of her activities or just let it be. He didn’t really need to know, but Vala didn’t know if she could hold back from him. Walking down the hall on auto-pilot, Vala knew what Cameron must be thinking as he went toward his quarters. Probably a little hurt because she’d just dumped water over the little spark he carried for her.
Vala found Daniel bent over a dusty piece of stone, coffee
and pad of paper close at hand. That’s why she thought she was beginning to
love him. Always concentrating, never letting up. It was only recently that he
had shifted his focus to her, showing her how much he truly cared. However,
that’s also what she was afraid of. If ever there was a time that he pulled his
affection away from her, she didn’t know how she would react. Losing his love
was what scared her most. A tear sneaked out of her eye, streaming down her
cheek at the thought of what might have happened had she gone with
“Hey,” Daniel sounded happy when he first glanced at Vala. But upon closer inspection, he noticed how distraught she really was. “What’s wrong?”
Vala rushed from the door to his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. After a moment his strong, protecting arms tightened around her waist which was a great comfort to her. Nuzzling her nose into his neck, a few more tears fell. “Daniel?”
“Yeah, what is it?” Daniel asked, concerned and confused at what was going on. Not that he minded her in his arms, but her tears worried him. The past weeks had been wonderful, full of smiles and actually getting along. Though it was hard to keep a secret from the team, he felt they were being successful, if just barely. Their relationship was of course unusual and they had both grown closer faster than Daniel had expected. Vala showing up at his door in distress struck him hard and sent his emotions reeling.
“Daniel, you’re not leaving right?” Vala asked in a hoarse whisper. Keeping her forehead on his shoulder, she prepared herself for the answer.
“Never, you know that. You’re making me worried, Vala. What’s going on?” Daniel asked, trying to comfort her by tracing small circles on the back of her leather jacket. Her muscles relaxed at his words, making him feel more reassured that things were better than when she had come in.
“Just a bad afternoon, that’s all,” Vala sighed into the
green BDUs. Though she thought she knew what his answer would be, hearing his
voice was a comfort. Not really knowing why, she didn’t tell him about Cameron
and going for a ride on his motorcycle. Things would have changed for them and
the team. Daniel would have probably been uncomfortable or angry around
One secret that Daniel would never tell Vala was that shortly after she left his office, he got a visit from Cameron. The two were a tad uncomfortable after Cameron explained what had happened. Usually you didn’t find yourself telling someone you just asked out their girlfriend. When did anything ‘usually’ happen in their lives though? Amazingly, Daniel understood and was glad to have an explanation of why Vala was so upset earlier.
Cameron’s honesty touched Daniel and it was then that he knew the colonel was more than a teammate; he was a friend. What got Daniel’s heart more though was how Vala had handled the situation. When faced with a choice, she took the right path. Over daring temptation and a new possibility, Vala chose to remain loyal. Two years ago Daniel would have never thought that it was within her being to actually be trustworthy. That little, unexpected, unplanned test of faith let Daniel know that she took their relationship seriously. It wasn’t just something new and shiny for her to play with, it had depth and meaning. Cameron’s confession confirmed everything to him. Daniel and Vala’s relationship was going to last, whatever might try to come between them.
** The End **
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