Training
By: Devra
CATEGORY: General
SEASON/SPOILERS: Season 10
WARNINGS: Whumping, Babbling
AUTHOR’S NOTES: Something was missing between the time that Daniel talked to General Landry about Vala joining the SGC and Vala being by Daniel’s side in The Pegasus Project. This is my take on what happened in between. So that makes this a missing scene? A missing episode? An almost anal need to fill in the blanks?
Once again thanks to jo for going above and beyond the call of being a beta. To all the heartsisters, thanks for keeping an eye on both my six and my heart when I needed it the most.
AUTHOR’S WEBSITE:
http://angstandwhump.popullus.net/devra.html and http://www.thealphagate.com/viewuser.php?uid=99
Vala was pissed. This was so not what she thought it would be like when Daniel had first mentioned a training mission. Stupidly, she had imagined walking a short ways, setting up camp, being taught to cook a few meals, making some coffee, having a few laughs, and trading some stories around campfires.
Nowhere did she remember him mentioning digging holes in the ground for them to piss and shit in. Cleaning up trash. Putting up and taking down a tent more times than she cared to remember. Then there was the inability to shower. Their illogical need to walk miles from the Stargate when there had been a perfectly good area of flat ground not five feet from the circle to set up camp. Taking apart a gun. Putting it together. Over and over again until she'd broken every nail and had permanent stains on her palms. "I stink," Vala complained.
"No argument from me." Daniel smiled, pointedly ignoring the ineffectual daggers she shot in his direction.
Sam shared with Daniel a wide eyed look of warning. "If looks could kill."
"Indeed," Teal'c added.
"Oh, and you're the one walking downwind,
"Bastards," she hissed, picking up speed and bypassing the group.
"Hey! You shouldn't be speaking to your commanding officer that way. Was it something I said?"
Taking a few large strides, Daniel caught up to her.
"Don't apologize, Daniel." Vala stopped and angrily tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "I don't deserve the treatment I got."
"Treatment you got?" Daniel motioned everyone to continue around them.
"Yes. Treatment I got." Even standing up to her full height, she was shorter than Daniel, but she refused to back down. Shoulders back, legs spread apart, bust out, hands on hips, this was the stance the Goa'uld who had inhabited her used to bring humans to their knees.
"Your treatment was no different than any other member of the SGC vying for placement on an SG team. This was not going to be a walk in the park, Vala."
"You never said—"
"And you—" Daniel was losing control and took a deep breath. "And you," he repeated quietly, "have a tendency to hear what you want to hear. I never said this was going to be easy."
"You never said it wasn't." She was so tempted to stamp her foot in frustration, but refused to allow Daniel the upper hand.
"I said, and I quote, be prepared."
"For what?" Vala threw her hands up in surrender. "You could have been a tad more specific, Daniel."
"When you're on an SG team, you should be prepared for the unexpected. We're trying to teach you survival, Vala. This is going to be the first of more than a handful of missions like this—"
"Oh, joy," she answered with a sneer.
Daniel opened his mouth, closed it then shook his head. "I'm sorry you feel that way." The shrug of his shoulders matched the rise and fall of his eyebrows.
Vala gritted her teeth in anger when he turned and walked away. She watched their backs for a moment, crossed her arms and waited, tapping her foot impatiently. She smiled smugly as Daniel turned, walked backwards for a few steps, then waved her forward with a waggle of his fingers.
* * * *
"Pizza. My place. Sam gets to pick the movie." Mitchell stood to the side of the DHD while Daniel dialed. Mitchell paused, scowling at the silence. "Hey, don't all jump at the invitation at once."
"I believe it was Colonel Carter who chose the movie last time."
"Greek," Daniel said, pressing the fourth glyph. "We had Chinese last time." Peripherally, he was aware of Vala edging closer to them. "How about we let Vala choose the movie?"
"Me?" Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Vala?" The remaining three echoed simultaneously.
"Sure, why not? After spending a week with us, she deserves a break."
He looked her up and down. "She'll clean up nicely. She'll leave her leather at home—"
"I'll pick everyone up," Sam volunteered.
"Wow, designated driver, Sam?" Daniel kidded. "That's a first." He expertly ducked the hand she went to smack him with.
"We get to bring the food, the movie and two great looking guys." Vala linked her arm though Teal'c's and winked at him. "Is there a name for this get-together?"
"I guess," Mitchell supplied, "we call it
'bonding'." He tapped Daniel's arm. "Finish dialing. I want to go
home already. I guess I'm responsible for the alcohol. Fine, alcohol I can do,
but this movie thing? Great,
The rest of their conversation was interrupted by the kawoosh of the Stargate, and Daniel pressed their IDC code into his GDO.
* * * *
They took no more than two steps towards the ramp when the MALP crackled to life, Landry's voice stopping them in their tracks.
"General?"
"Ahhh. SG-1. Please be advised - do *not* step through the event horizon, your assistance is needed with an SAR."
"SAR?" Vala whispered in Daniel's ear.
He batted away her warm, hovering breath. "Search and Rescue."
"Oh, goodie, a mission." Gleefully, she clapped her hands.
Daniel held her hands together, glaring at her.
Landry began. "It appears that SG-7 has run into a bit of trouble on P5X-971 and we here at the SGC… " Landry cleared his throat. "And here at the SGC we're having a bit of difficulty initializing a wormhole. We're unable to send help."
"What appears to be the problem with—"
"Your help with the 'gate is always appreciated, Colonel Carter, but finding SG-7 is taking priority at the moment."
"I understand, sir."
"We can receive incoming wormholes, but we cannot initialize. So any team here, is here to stay for the time being. SG-1's the first team who'd been scheduled to return since Colonel James' and his team missed reporting in.
"SG-7 reported a village half a day's journey from the Stargate. The villagers were quite enthusiastic about a treaty with Earth and based on the samples they had sent back… well, it looked promising. That was well over twenty-four hours ago. The 'gate problems began a few hours after that in a totally unrelated incident with a bolt of—never mind. We're taking care of that on our end, it'll just take a bit of time. Good luck. I'm going to hand you over to Walter for the coordinates. Bring them home safely."
* * * *
Daniel sidestepped Vala for the twentieth time after
stepping through the 'gate; she was literally bouncing for joy like an
annoyingly overgrown Tigger. "Stop it!" he warned, reaching over and
dragging her to his side. "
"Two damn nice asses." She wolf whistled appreciatively and waved in response when the three of them turned as one. "Sam has a nice ass also, though I usually don't swing that way."
Daniel groaned, rubbing at his eyes under his glasses. "Vala. This isn't a game. Your life depends on those people. Their lives depend on your alertness."
The smile evaporated from her face. "Daniel, I was a Goa'uld. And just in case it slipped your mind, I survived on a hostile world where *I* was blamed for the Goa'uld's actions. Look," she said with a sigh, "it's obvious that you believe you're better than I am, and that I need to learn a lesson or two or even three on survival." She stopped and grabbed Daniel's arm. "I beg to differ, but since no one has asked my opinion—"
She was standing a little too close for Daniel's comfort, but he said nothing, remembering instead, an early Daniel who'd had no choice but to fit into a strange, alien, military environment. There had been no other ways to find Sha're. He had been a square peg in a round hole. Like Vala.
Daniel had had good teachers. Hell, he was still learning.
Sam. Teal'c. Jack.
"I didn't forget, Vala, but you need to understand our way. No one's saying you don't have the intelligence or that you're not a survivor, you just need to learn what to expect from us in an off world situation, just like we need to know what to expect from you."
"So this is another test?"
"No." Daniel shook his head. "It's a learning experience for all of us."
* * * *
Once more, Sam's attempt to raise SG-7 on their radio met with only silence. Halfway to the village and SG-1 had seen no sign of life except for insects and the occasional bird in flight. There was a copse of trees to the right, becoming denser and encroaching on their path as they moved forward.
"I was going to rent Kill Bill tonight," Sam threw out.
"Kill Bill?" Vala and Daniel echoed simultaneously.
"Kill Bill, it's a—"
"Chick vengeance flick,
"Oh," Daniel said, not really understanding.
"Ohhhh, sounds right up my alley."
"I really wanted a gyro tonight." Daniel smacked his lips. "Really, really wanted a gyro."
"Lamb or chicken?" Sam said.
"Lamb. I was thinking of bringing a bottle of Ouzo," Daniel volunteered.
"Think I'm going to be making up the couch for you, then." Mitchell groused. "And I'm warning you, do *not* throw up—"
"I've never thrown up in your apartment."
"No, you haven't, but remember that potted plant outside on my steps—"
"You vomited in the potted plant at Mitchell's home?" Vala's eyes glittered mischievously.
Daniel gave an inward groan. Payback. Next time he *was* going to throw up in Mitchell's apartment for providing Vala fodder.
"Indeed he did."
Sam snorted. "I certainly don't want you throwing up in my car."
"Hey," Daniel replied indignantly. "I had a stomach virus."
Mitchell and Teal'c stopped short, both of them thrusting their hands up, pivoting towards the trees.
"What's the problem?" Vala whispered.
A projectile flew from the tree line, cutting through the space between Sam and Teal'c.
"Get down." Daniel pushed Vala hard onto the ground and turned, weapon raised, and concentrated on fanning out and following SG-1 into the trees. Two more projectiles missed their marks, but gave the team the direction in which to direct fire. But the third made contact as all consuming fire swept through his thigh and Daniel collapsed to his knees and dropped his weapon. The pain was acute, different from a zat or even a gun shot. This was fire, a burning so intense that for a second he could focus on nothing but his own universe and his inability to even draw enough air into his lungs to breathe. Forgotten, was SG-1, Vala and the danger they were in as the agony expanded and spread.
"Daniel!" Vala screamed.
Her voice cut through Daniel's self-absorbed focus and he thought he yelled at her to stay put, but she appeared by his side despite what he said. He grabbed her leg and weakly pulled her down next to him. "Don't. Stand."
"Yeah, you should live by you own credo, Daniel. Let me see."
"Give a moment to—"
"What?" she said impatiently, pounding the earth. "Catch your breath? Get up and walk?" She lifted his chin and forced him to look at the remainder of SG-1 systematically decimating the trees as they entered the woods. "They're busy. Let me watch your ass."
* * * *
Daniel lay on his back staring at the sky, his already blood soaked hands wrapped around the shaft of the arrow protruding from his thigh.
"That looks like it hurts."
He nodded. "Yeah, you could say that."
She twanged the top and Daniel gasped, arching his back against the pain. "Please. Do not do that again," he panted.
"
Vala reached and grabbed Daniel's radio before he could. "Nice of you to remember us."
"Ask him if they're okay and if they found—" Daniel inquired.
"Of course they're okay, Daniel, Mitchell's talking to me on the radio."
"Vala." He hissed out her name between teeth gritted in both frustration and pain.
"Okay. Okay," Vala said with a roll of her eyes. "Daniel wants to know if you got the bad guys who shot him." She skirted away from Daniel. "Don't touch me with those bloodied hands."
"Give me my radio back."
"No." She hugged it to her chest.
"Vala, please. And if you don't release that button—"
Vala held the radio up, teasingly pushing and releasing the side button. "This button?"
"Yes, *that* button. If you don't let it go, everyone is privy to our whole conversation."
"I know that, Daniel, I just wanted to make sure that everyone knew you were injured, but that I had your ass covered."
"Six," Daniel bemoaned. "Six," he repeated," you have…well you really didn't have my—"
"Would the two of you please just shut up," Mitchell ordered. "Please, for all that is sacred and dear, tell me what the hell happened."
Too late. Daniel groaned and dropped his head onto the ground.
Vala tsk'd. "I hope you guys are hurrying, because you know, he's bleeding and he looks damn bad. Really bad."
"She's lying." Daniel shouted into the air.
"Am not. You're all pale and clammy."
"What appears to be the nature of Daniel Jackson's injury?"
"Big. Very big arrow sticking out of his upper thigh…another few inches higher and to the left and he'd…we all would have suffered a terrible loss."
* * * *
"It's in pretty deep, Daniel."
"Understatement, Sam." His thigh was burning, even trying to find an impossibly comfortable spot on the ground, elicited shards of pain.
"Sorry, but it's gotta come out."
"I know. Just do it."
"Not here. Not in the middle of the field." She stood, brushing off her pants.
Mitchell held his weapon in the ready position. "Okay, listen up, folks, here's the game plan. Sam, you and Vala go on ahead. Sam, you remember the clearing where the snipers had their camp?"
"Yeah, big hollow."
"I'm thinking it's big enough for a full sized, military issue tent. So, while we drag Daniel's butt there, if you leave now, you should have enough time to set up camp *and* boil a pot of water."
As painful as it was, Daniel levered himself onto his elbows. "Pot of water? I'm not having a baby."
"No, you're not, but I believe by the time Sam gets through taking the arrow out of your thigh, I'm thinking having a baby might be a better option."
“Hello…" Vala tapped her chest. "Mother, here. New mother with a vivid memory of childbirth. You see, while Daniel's injury might be painful, in relation—" she pinched her thumb and forefinger together, "it's a perfect fit. The size of the arrow is in perfect correlation to the size of the hole it has to be removed from. Now, I want you all to take a moment and visual the size of a baby's head and the hole *it* has to come out of."
* * * *
Daniel was shaking so hard by the time they arrived at their campsite, the shaft of the arrow was quivering in sync with his body.
"Looks like your room at the inn is ready and waiting,
Nodding, unable to speak, he gave a weak thumb's up. A trek that should have taken ten minutes had taken three times longer, leaving him thirsty, sweaty and thoroughly annoyed that the rest of his body seemed to be taking on sympathetic aches and pains with his thigh.
Gently, he was lowered to the bedroll and while he was grateful for their care, it had still hurt. Sam was by his side in an instant, prodding him in places he really would've rather she didn't. "Just do it," he insisted, grabbing her hand as it moved towards the arrow for the third time.
"He's right, Sam." Mitchell knelt down next to her. "Fix him; we have a mission to complete."
"
"I didn't say he was going to come with us. We'll leave him and Vala here. We took care of the snipers and from the supplies that were still unused by their campsite, they won't be missed for a while."
"I'm staying here with, Daniel?" Vala stood behind Mitchell, making faces. "I thought we, me, you, all of us, were going on a mission to rescue the good guys?"
"Your mission, Vala, is to take care of Daniel Jackson." Teal'c stepped to her side and glared. "I would gladly take your place by his side if there was a competent warrior to take my place."
"Are you saying I'm incompetent?"
"In the manner of a search and rescue, the answer would have to be yes."
"I don't like *my* mission. I like *your* mission better. Can I trade?"
"No, we need you here," Sam said. "Daniel needs you here."
"Hello, I'm right here. Please don't talk about me like I'm invisible."
He drew a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Or unconscious."
"I'm going to give you a shot of Morphine before I try and take the arrow out."
"On that note." Cameron touched the rim of his baseball cap. "Teal'c and I are going outside to do a perimeter check or two."
"Chicken?" Vala asked innocently.
* * * *
He felt the needle go in and he waited. Methodically, Sam clipped his pants' leg a few inches above the arrow.
"Niiiice," Vala remarked, looking over Sam's shoulder. "Maybe this won't be such a bad mission after all."
In a few minutes, Daniel wouldn't have cared if Anubis was the one staying with him, the shot considerably lowered the pain in his leg to a dull roar. "Mmmmm."
"On the count of three."
"Three. Got it." He forced lethargic limbs to wave okay to Sam.
"One. Two. Three." Two hands wrapped around the arrow, she gave a jerk and pulled it free from Daniel.
Morphine shot or not, with great strength, Daniel fisted the bedroll on either side of him, arched his back and screamed.
Tossing the arrow aside, Sam placed a pressure bandage on the wound site. "I'm sorry, Daniel," she said.
"Fine. I'm fine." He panted. "Hurt, a lot." Turning his face against his shoulder, he blotted up the sweat.
Vala tilted her head sideways and checked out the entrance wound as Sam adjusted the bandage. "Should it look like that?"
Sam leaned backwards, snatched up the arrow, and examined it. "Whoa. Look at this…"
Daniel looked at where Sam was pointing. "It has ridges and lines. Just like a screw."
"That's why it hurt so much when I pulled it out. I guess I should have just unscrewed it?"
Vala snorted. "Daniel was screwed by an arrow, has such a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
* * * *
"You're going to call, right?" Vala practically skipped up to the group as they got ready to leave, grabbing onto Sam's arm before she left the tent. Anxiously, she peered over her shoulder at Daniel. "I mean, what do I do if he—"
Sam adjusted her weapon. "I labeled everything. List of instructions is in the med bag. Make sure he eats. Drinks. Tylenol for fever—"
"Fever." Vala scowled. "I don't remember anything about fever. I'm sure I would have remembered you saying something about fever. Fevers are catching, aren't they? *I* could get a fever?"
Sam patted her arm. "You'll be fine. Daniel will be fine. We'll maintain radio contact."
"Are you sure?" She raised a hand to her forehead. "Do I feel warm to you?"
* * * *
The tent was confining and boring, so Vala went out. Outside wasn't as confining, but it was just as boring so she went back inside. Daniel had shifted positions. "Daniel," she said excitedly, dropping down into his line of vision. "You're awake. I'm bored."
Daniel looked at her. Right at her, but his brow was furrowed in confusion. "Vala?"
She nodded vigorously.
"I'm a bit—"
"Confused?" Vala waved her hand at him. "I'll give it to you in a nutshell. New planet. Search and rescue – oh, excuse me – SAR. You got hit with an arrow. Sam pulled it out. I volunteered to stay with you while they went searching and rescuing." She leaned over and whispered in Daniel's ear. "Between you and me, honey, barring the annoyance of the arrow thing, we got the better deal."
Daniel licked his lips. "Thirsty."
"Thirsty. I can take care of that. Don't get up, I'll get it for you."
Proudly she returned to his bedside with a canteen clutched in her hands. "I have your water."
Daniel blanched at the offering. "I'm not thirsty." He pushed weakly at her knee. "Go away. I'm really not in the mood for dinner."
"Dinner? Who offered you dinner? You wanted water. I brought you water." She growled at him in frustration and shook his shoulder when his eyes began to close. "Wake up. If I have to stay here and baby-sit you, the least you can do is open your eyes and keep me company."
*
* * *
She ate a power bar, but it really wasn't what she was looking for. Now chocolate, that would be a nice treat. Daniel was a chocolate person, she'd found that out going through the desk drawers in his office, and she wondered if he carried any with him.
She dragged his backpack next to the bedroll and sat on the floor, unzipping each of the little pockets one at a time. Some of the stuff made no sense. In the side pocket, she found two plastic circles glued together with a string between the two discs. Curious, she held the string and let go of the circles which dropped and rolled until it reached the end of the string. Looking at it in disgust, she flung the string at it and continued searching. She found more pens and pencils than any human would use in a lifetime, never mind on a week's training mission. A hand held tape recorder, which she examined and stuck back into the pocket it had come from. Two blister packs of pills which looked nothing like the pills Sam had instructed her to give Daniel. Those she put to the side to ask Daniel about later. A pack of condoms. She grinned. "That's my Daniel, always prepared. Good boy."
None of the pockets revealed an iota of candy, though, so Vala unzipped both zippers at the top of the backpack and dumped the contents onto the ground. She tossed the empty backpack to the side, then leaned over and spread everything out in front of her. "Boring. Boring. Boring. Ahh… here you go." With a Cheshire cat smile, she removed a chocolate bar that was wasting its life as a bookmark.
* * * *
"Get chocolate on the book, and I'll have to kill you."
Vala didn't take her nose out of the book she was reading, she just waved the zat in the air then put it down by her side. "I have the weapon, Daniel. You can't kill me."
"With my bare hands, I could."
"By the time you got out of bed and hobbled over to me, I'd have zatted your body into oblivion." She pointed the bar of chocolate at Daniel. "So don't threaten me."
"You have to sleep sometime."
"I have all the medication and then some." She used her foot to point at the blister pack from Daniel's stash. "I can make you sleep all the time."
"What time did the others leave?"
"Now you want to talk?" She slammed the book shut. "Before when I was bored all you wanted to do was sleep. Now that *I'm* busy, you want to make conversation." Vala shoved the last piece of chocolate into her mouth and smiled triumphantly.
Daniel turned his face away from her. If he could figure out how to move his whole body without triggering agony, he would've. He opened his eyes in response to a gentle swipe on his cheek.
"I cleaned up the mess. Put everything all nice and neat back into the backpack, even that two disc thing on a string, which if you really must know, is pretty damn stupid. I mean, you let the string go, the thing rolls away from you and doesn't even come back."
"It's called a yo-yo." Daniel grunted as he maneuvered his body into a sitting position.
"And what's its purpose?"
"Keep you entertained on boring missions."
"Like this? Honestly, I tried that yo-yo thing and it didn't entertain me. What else do you do for entertainment?"
"There's a pack of cards somewhere. A tiny magnetic game set that has chess on one side, backgammon on the other. Jack used to bring Ad Libs with him—"
"Ad Libs?"
"Pads with blank spaces where you fill in nouns, pronouns—" He took in the confused look on Vala's face. "Never mind."
"I saw the condoms, so for those really *boring* missions, like this one, there's always sex."
"That right, Vala, SG-1 has sex every chance we get, whenever we're not too busy dealing with the Goa'uld or the Ori and now that you and Mitchell are around, well, the combinations are endless."
Vala fanned herself. "*Now, *that's* a visual."
"Give me the radio, I'm calling for help."
"Help? Why? They checked in about an hour ago, but you were sleeping so I told them everything here was under control. Sam said they were right outside the village trying to find SG-7."
"Why didn't you tell me that as soon as I woke up?"
"Because," she said with a roll of her eyes that would've made even Cassie jealous, "you woke up yelling at me."
"I didn't yell."
"You did." She bounced her shoulders. "Make sure you don't get chocolate on that book. There wasn't even a thank you for dragging your sorry ass to this tent, which I put up quite nicely, don't you agree?"
"Nice," Daniel repeated dumbly.
"And! And! Don't forget I saved your life. I radioed for help—"
"I could've sworn Mitchell radioed *us*?"
"Oh, never mind the details. They called us. We called them. You got the help you needed in the end."
"Hungry."
Vala waved to the pile of MREs. "No, thank you," she said, patting her stomach. "The chocolate bar was really filling, but you can help yourself."
Annoyed, Daniel reached for his backpack, biting back a yelp when he put pressure on the injury. Vala had done a number on his organized chaos stuffed inside, but he found a smushed but definitely edible power bar at the bottom. The sweetness of the bar lost its appeal after three bites and Daniel wrapped the uneaten portion back into the wrapper, then shoved it into the backpack. He grabbed the canteen by his bedroll and drank long and hard, wiping his mouth against his arm when finished.
"Daniel, are you okay?" She took one of his hands and held it out.
"You're shaking." Her voice raised in pitch, obviously as surprised as he was.
"An aftereffect of the Morphine."
She gazed at him through narrowed, unbelieving eyes. "Are you sure? 'Cause if you're not sure, and you feel like you're going to pass out or something—"
"I promise you, I'm not going to pass out." Daniel shifted on the unforgiving ground. "I need to pee."
"You want me to dig a hole in the ground? No way. I absolutely *refuse* to dig—nowhere did Sam say I had to dig more holes in the ground."
"I'm just asking for a hand to stand, Vala. I wouldn't expect you to want to do more than that."
She opened her mouth to continue her tirade, shoulders back all ready to do battle, when the sentiment of Daniel's words hit her. Vala deflated. "Why do I think you're insulting me?" Not waiting for an answer, she grabbed him under the arm and pulled twice before Daniel was in an upright position. "Urgh," she grunted. "You know, Daniel, maybe you need to be cutting down on your chocolate intake." She rotated her shoulder.
"I think I pulled something."
Daniel didn't answer her, he was concentrating on keeping the ground where it was supposed to be and not have it rush up and make contact with his face.
"I knew it!" Vala yelled, "You're going to pass out. Let me tell you, Daniel, if you pass out, I'm leaving you right where you land. So let's go take a piss so I can get your ass back inside and on the sleeping bag."
* * * *
Daniel's left hand was anchored to a tree and he glanced sideways at Vala. "Shoo. Go away."
"Do you need any help?" Vala asked a little too eagerly. She reached over and touched the top button of his pants. "Ow! You didn't have to hit me. I was only offering to help."
"Helping is standing over there." Daniel pointed across the clearing.
She took three steps to the right, leaned over and visually explored her view of Daniel's crotch. "Go ahead, I'm waiting."
"Behind me. Stand behind me."
Vala plastered herself to Daniel's ass. "Like this?" she purred.
"Go back ten paces."
"Baby steps or giant steps?"
"Forget it. I haven't had an accident since the age of three and there's no way I'm letting you make me piss in my pants."
* * * *
Every part of him was shaking by the time the two of them maneuvered Daniel back onto the bedroll.
Vala picked up her hair and fanned the back of her neck. "Phew, going was definitely easier than coming."
As Daniel slowly slid into the bedroll, he tried to school how much it hurt, but failed, because Vala was immediately hovering, petting and cooing, adjusting the covering and making him very, very nervous. She had become Jack.
"How about we see exactly what Sam left in her bag of medical tricks."
* * * *
Vala was frantic. There had better be something in here to wipe that expression off Daniel's face. Daniel never looked like that. Ever. He was the strongest man she knew, but at the moment he was whiter than a piece of paper and he was hurting. Big time. She saw it in the lines around his mouth, around his eyes and how he rubbed his leg when he thought she wasn't looking.
"The note says you need an antibiotic. One every six hours. Tylenol for the fever." Vala slapped a hand on Daniel's forehead.
"Ow." Roughly he pushed her hand aside. "Forgive me for bringing this up, but your bedside manner sucks."
"That's a bad thing. Sucking in bed?" Vala shook her head. "Sometimes you're very strange, Daniel." Her hand moved lethargically down his face. "No fever, but I'm giving you Tylenol anyway. Can't hurt." Silently, she read the note again, nodding, her eyebrows practically reaching her hairline as she reached the end of the note. "I have to change the bandage."
"I can do it."
"I'm sure you can. But Sam left me in charge. Not you. She didn't give you the note, did she?"
"Vala—"
"This is my responsibility."
"Vala—"
"I was a Goa'uld. I murdered people in cold blood. I should have no problem with this."
"Oh, that's comforting."
"The note says to give you a pain pill before I change the bandage and wait until you get this really dopey expression on your face—" Vala turned to Daniel with a wide-eyed look of innocence. "I don't believe I was supposed to say that to you. Sam meant that only for me. A girl thing, you know."
* * * *
Vala turned Daniel's hand palm side up. "Tylenol. Pain killer. Antibiotic. Now Sam has a little footnote that says sometimes you throw up from the antibiotics, but could you please not do that today. I smell bad enough as it is without wearing your lunch from yesterday."
He took the pills all at once, washing them down with half a canteen of water.
"Do you feel like you want to throw up?"
"No."
"Are you sure? Because I'm sure I could find a bucket or a potted plant." Bloody bandages and injuries were one thing, vomit fell into a category all its own, and definitely something she didn't want to deal with.
"I'm sure, Vala." Daniel was definitely annoyed, and his face was pinched and drawn in pain as he shifted position.
"Do you want to lie down?"
"No."
"Good, I don't want to lie down either, even though we've had a long day. Trekking to the Stargate, going on a mission, getting shot at, playing nursemaid. I don't know about you, but I'm revitalized."
"That's not exactly how I would put it."
"Party pooper." She sat on his bedroll, leaning her back against his.
"It's okay," she said when she felt him trying to take some weight off her.
Daniel snorted, moved around, redistributing his weight, leaning a bit more on her than before. Giving in just a bit.
"So, Daniel, how long have you been with the SGC?" She leaned back and smoothed down his hair.
"I've been with the SGC…if you want to get technical…twelve years."
"Twelve years?" Vala felt Daniel shrug, and patted his face before drawing back her hand.
"Yup, time flies when you're having fun."
"What were you like twelve years ago?"
"Twelve years younger than I am now."
"Would I have liked a twelve year younger Daniel Jackson?"
"I did." Daniel whispered. "I liked him a lot. Life was an adventure. What awaited him on the other side of the 'gate was wondrous. He was full of himself. Fought for what he believed in—"
"You haven't changed."
"I'm older. A lot older. Twelve years is a long time."
"You must have been cute."
Daniel's snorted. "My hair was longer. Gangly, awkward…naïve."
"I bet you were adorable."
Daniel laughed.
"You laughed," Vala said incredulously. "I don't think I've ever heard you laugh."
"I laugh."
"You do. You do laugh. But that was a *laugh*." Vala giggled. "I made you laugh," she said proudly. "So Daniel, twelve years at one job."
"Actually, ten. I spent a year on
"
"I loved
"Why would *anyone* in their right mind love a planet as backward as—"
"Where's the radio," Daniel said abruptly, leaning forward, offsetting Vala's balance.
"Hey!" she said, scrambling not to fall sideways.
"I'm sorry. It's just that, come on, you have to admit that
"Where's the radio?" Daniel insisted, trying to maneuver around on his butt to find where Vala had put it.
"I'm sorry." She crawled on her hands and knees around Daniel, grabbing his hands in hers. "Stop, okay? Sam said she'd radio us when she could. You certainly don't want to go shouting your head off and give away her position."
"No, you're right." Daniel gave up his search and busied his hands rubbing the side of his thigh.
"I'm always right, Daniel."
"No. Not always. There was the time…"
"Always."
"No. You're wrong about
"Okay." Vala sat on her ass in front of Daniel and crossed her arms.
"Go on. Knock yourself out. What the hell is so special about that planet?"
"My wife."
Slack jawed, Vala stared at Daniel.
"I do believe I've rendered you speechless." He couldn't stop the small, upper handed smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"You. Have. A. Wife? Did I know you have—"
"Had," he answered with a quick nod of his head.
"Had?"
"Had a wife. She died."
Frustrated, Vala threw her hands up in the air. "You have a dead wife? How come I didn't know this?"
"You never asked," he simply said.
* * * *
Pain pill or not, Vala was hurting him. Daniel gritted his teeth and braced himself as she cleaned the area around the wound. She was trying to be gentle, though gentle really wasn't in her vocabulary.
"Quit moving," she ordered, blowing an errant strand of hair out of her face.
Daniel nodded. He hadn't been moving, he didn't care what she said.
"I need you to help. Hold this." She shoved a piece of paper into Daniel's hands, then held it up so she could read it. "Sam's instructions," she explained before Daniel had a chance to ask.
"Ow. Easy. I'm quite fond of that leg."
Vala ran her latex glove-covered hands over his exposed thigh. "Me, too, but you know it's not easy on this end. Maybe if you talked and distracted me."
"Distracted you? I don't think I want you distracted. I want you focused on the job at hand." He shook the paper in her face. "Pay attention."
"I am. Why don't you finishing telling me about your wife?"
Daniel wondered if somewhere in her grand list of instructions, Sam had mentioned that pain pills plus Daniel equaled verbal diarrhea. Jack had always made sure to mention that a Goa'uld would never have needed to torture Daniel to get information, all they would have had to do was ply him with a Vicodin or two and Daniel would freely regurgitate all of his knowledge.
Daniel complete with Vicodin *and* Vala was a train wreck waiting to happen. He refused to lay down on the tracks, so he just stared at the ceiling, allowing his mind to drift.
"Was she pretty?" Vala asked. The pressure she was putting on his leg forced him to squirm under her touch.
“Beautiful." Damn. He pressed his lips together a fraction too late to keep the word in.
Vala took the paper from Daniel's hand and folded into quarters, stuffed it among the med supplies, bandaged his leg then covered him. "How long were you married?"
"A year. Barely a year." Sighing, Daniel closed his eyes, opening them in shock at the gentle swipe across his forehead.
"What?" Vala said with a knowing smiling. "I can do sympathetic."
* * * *
Vala was humming some nondescript song while she hunted through the MREs. "Sam said you should eat."
"That's nice." Daniel turned on his side. Eating was the last thing he felt like doing at the moment. He must have drifted cause he jerked, then cursed as the sudden movement reawakened sleeping pain. "Shit. What?"
"Tea and crackers." Vala pushed the hair off of her forehead to read the writing on the wrapper. "They're called graham crackers." She waved them under Daniel's nose. "Mmmm, good."
Pushing the food away, he turned his head. "No."
"Yes," she said, moving his hand. "I'm treating this as a training mission. Expect the unexpected. Follow orders. I'm following orders, now eat the damn cracker."
Begrudgingly, Daniel accepted Vala's help to a sitting position, took the graham cracker and the tea and ate it, refusing to admit that it felt good going down.
"I'm sorry your wife died, Daniel."
"Me, too." He searched the tea in the cup rather than look into her eyes.
"How did she die?"
"She was trying to…the Goa'uld, Amaunet, who had taken her host, was trying to kill me…" Daniel swirled the remaining liquid around in the bottom of the cup then drank it. "Teal'c killed her with a staff blast."
"Your wife was a Goa'uld?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I didn't know—"
He nodded then shoved the cup at Vala. "There was no reason for you to know." Daniel lay back down with a grunt, closing his eyes, trying to find that place of comfort he'd had before Vala's enforced snack time.
"I met your wife. Amaunet was very beautiful."
"No." Daniel opened his eyes and challenged Vala in the tent's darkening gloom. "My wife, Sha're was very beautiful." Even after all these years, Daniel could still feel the anger and hurt. "Amaunet was a parasite, living in my wife's body."
"Daniel—"
Once again he closed his eyes, this time instead of escaping from pain he needed to escape from the world of pity in Vala's eyes. "I'm going to see if I can—"
"Sleep, okay, that's probably the best thing."
* * * *
He awoke buried under a second sleeping bag. The tent was illuminated by two battery-operated lanterns. Something, beside the gnawing ache in his leg, had awoken him. Vala was bent over, sitting by one of the lanterns, playing a game of cards. It was late. Without even looking at his watch, his body knew it was late.
"Hey." His voice sounded old and scratchy. "What did I miss?"
"I did the required perimeter check then I cooked a wonderful gourmet meal of macaroni and cheese. The sun went down. The night is dark and cloudy and it's pouring outside." She pointed to the top of the tent.
"Listen."
Ahh. Rain on canvas. Always a good sleep interrupter. "Rain," he repeated idiotically.
Vala smiled indulgently. "Rain." She put all the cards back into a pile and crawled over to Daniel. "Sam called."
"Why didn't you wake me?"
"Because she said not to. Don't worry, I inspected every inch of your body while Sam was on the line."
"Well…?"
"Well, you passed muster, I believe was the word she used."
"Not me. SG-7."
"All safe and accounted for. According to Sam they kicked some serious butt."
"And…?"
"Well, SG-7 is bruised but they can walk, the problem is this rain is making the route impossible to travel, so they're holed up in a safe place waiting for the worst of the storm to pass."
"But they're okay?"
"I just said they were okay. Have I ever lied to you before?" Vala ignored Daniel's eye roll. "Okay, have I ever lied *since* becoming a member of the SGC?"
* * * *
Daniel wanted the radio. Vala wanted him to take more meds. It was a trade off. He took meds, allowed her to proudly dote over a job well done, then took the radio and spoke to Sam, Teal'c and Mitchell, hearing for himself that they were all safe and sound, in a cave about ten miles north of their location.
"Feel better now?" Vala huffed after the twenty minute prolonged goodbye, not truly understanding the Walton reference from Sam.
"No. I feel drugged to the gills. And I don't think Sam actually wanted me to take more pills."
"She didn't say you shouldn't. And anyway, you have those funny lines in the corner of your eyes and your face is all scrunched up which means you're in pain. You'll sleep better."
"I won't sleep. I'll pass out."
Vala shrugged. "Your eyes will be closed and I won't have to watch you trying to be all brave and crap."
"Brave and crap?"
"What? What did I say that was wrong?"
"And crap?" He could feel his face screw up in confusion. "Have you been speaking to Jack?"
*
* * *
"So you really hated your stepmother?"
Vala threw down the cards she held in her hand. "Look, you wanted to teach me a card game, which with enough drugs in you to kill a small animal, I thought was a bad idea, but you insisted. I'm trying. I really, really, am trying. But you haven't shut up for two seconds, Daniel, and frankly, it's getting a bit hard to concentrate."
"Sorry."
Vala picked up her cards with a snort of disbelief then threw a king on the discard pile. "Hey!" She slapped her hand protectively over the card she'd just gotten rid of when Daniel reached for it. "Why do you want this card?"
"What? I need that."
"Daniel, I swear you got rid of the same card two hands ago."
"I did?"
Vala sighed, shook her head and plucked the cards from Daniel's fingers. "I think it's time for you to go to sleep."
His pout of protest lasted about two seconds as he got comfortable under the blankets. "Not tired," Daniel yawned.
"Go to sleep."
"You never told me about your stepmother."
"You never give up, do you?" she growled good-naturedly. "My stepmother married my father, who though he was a wonderful man, was obviously incredibly stupid and blind when it came to well endowed women. Adria wanted me out of the picture so she donated her lovely stepdaughter, me, to the temple where I attracted the attention of a Goa'uld. The rest, as you say, is history."
"Vala—"
"Enough of the bedtime story for now, okay? If I finish this tonight, they'll be no more stories for tomorrow."
"I doubt that."
"Accck, Daniel, just do me a favor? Shut up and go to sleep."
* * * *
From under the shelter of a blanket, Daniel watched Vala as she puttered around the tent, finally settling by the lantern, pulling a magazine from her backpack, the cover of which Daniel couldn't read.
Under the covers, he could admit what he'd been feeling. The heaviness in his limbs. The ache in his muscles. The encroaching fever. The ground, even with two sleeping bags, seemed unforgiving and just the pressure of the blanket against his bandaged thigh was painful. He lay still, gazing at Vala, forcing his eyes open against the battle of the drugs. Sensing his scrutiny, Vala looked up from her reading and winked at Daniel.
"Go to sleep," she mouthed, scowling threateningly at him.
* * * *
Tonight, for some reason, Daniel was incredibly cold. He shifted, looking for Sha're's body heat to add to his own. He reached out, surprised to feel nothing but emptiness in the pallet next to him. "Sha're?"
* * * *
Daniel had been mumbling in his sleep for the past thirty minutes, not clear enough for Vala to make out exactly what he was complaining about, but loud enough to keep her from sleeping. "Even in sleep, he doesn't shut up," she grumbled, sliding down and trying to cover her ears, all her goodwill dissipating in her exhaustion.
"Sha're?"
Holding her breath, Vala waited, nothing but the top of her head visible.
Daniel murmured something in a language that she couldn't make out, but admittedly, Vala felt incredibly guilty at Daniel's insistent calling of his dead wife's name. Mocking herself, she struggled to unzip the bedroll. "What the hell did I think was going to happen, forcing Daniel to discuss his dearly departed wife?" she grumbled and complained as she made her way to his side. "Wake up," she ordered, shaking his shoulder, realizing with a shock, that even through the sleeping bag, he was a hell of a lot hotter now than when they were playing cards.
"Damn it, Daniel." Shoving him in annoyance, Vala plopped down on her ass.
"Sha're." With surprising strength, he shot out and captured her arm.
"I'm sorry."
"You'd better be sorry. What the hell am I supposed to do with you now?"
The word "sleep" came out on the crest of a deep sigh.
"That's what I was trying to do." Futilely, Vala attempted to peel Daniel off of her arm.
"No." The word came out with more strength than Vala thought possible, and his grip tightened.
"You're sick."
"Not sick. Cold. Need you." Daniel gave Vala a lazy smile, his eyes opened, but fever-bright and unfocused. "Come to bed." Daniel's hand traveled up her arm, his fingers weaving through her hair. "Beautiful."
Vala shook her head, wrapping her hands around Daniel's hot one.
"Anyone ever tell you, that your timing is impeccable?"
* * * *
They sat like that for a while. She had this placating expression stuck on her face while Daniel gazed dopily up at her with a grin that was so stupid, Vala couldn't help but smile back at him.
"Daniel. Darling husband of mine, if I lie down with you, will you go to sleep?"
He dropped his hand and shifted with a loud grunt, then with uncoordinated movements tried to smooth down the sleeping bag, silently inviting Vala to curl up against him.
Vala stifled an exaggerated, comical yawn. "Don't mind if I do."
*
* * *
Daniel's hot and heavy body and even heavier breathing pulled Vala out of deep sleep. Her hair was stuck to her back and neck, her clothes were plastered to her body; Vala was a pool of sweat compliments of Daniel's rising temperature. She held him up and slithered out from under his weight. Standing in the middle of the tent, Vala fanned her clothes away from her body, blowing cool air down the front of her tee shirt.
"No fever my ass," Vala groused as she twisted her hair up and out of her face.
"Okay," she said as she paced, hands on hips, around Daniel's prone form. "You have a fever. You've already had your drug quota for the next few hours. What now?" Vala stopped by Daniel's head and began to tap her foot impatiently. Squatting down, she peered into his flushed face.
"Is this a ruse?" Vala checked over her shoulder. "Maybe it's the SGC's warped idea of a training mission? Checking out how I handle myself under pressure?"
* * * *
Vala found Sam's note, stuck in the bag with the other medical supplies and skimmed it all the way down to the footnote about fevers. Fever strips. Tylenol dosage. Blah. Blah. Blah. All well and good. Sam was *way* over on the other side of this damn planet while she was struck in a tent with a sick Daniel who finally had seen her beauty. Too bad it was his high fever that was attractively reminding him of his dead, Goa'uld wife. As Mitchell was fond of telling her, sometimes life sucked.
Opening the fever strips, she stuck one on Daniel's forehead, forcibly holding his hands down so it would at least register without interruption. "Stop," she commanded the numbers as they lit up like the passing floors on the SGC elevator. Finding a pen, she scribbled down one hundred and three and the time at the bottom of Sam's instructions. Tossing the pen to the side, Vala grabbed the list again, trying to find what she should do in these circumstances. As far as she knew, no one had packed a healing device, which was the Goa'uld tried and true way to heal someone when they were sick.
"Come on, Daniel, let's try and get some water in you."
He fought her every step of the way, cursing at her in a language she had no idea what it was, and by the time he was propped into a sitting position, Vala had been pushed, punched and generally abused. "I liked it better when you thought I was Sha're."
For someone who had fought drinking the water, he latched hungrily onto the canteen, complaining loudly when Vala tried to take it away. "Give me a minute. Sam's note said two Tylenol for fever, didn't mention how far apart the doses had to be, so she opened the bottle and took four out for good measure. "Take these," she said, turning Daniel's hand over and placing them into the palm.
He blinked at them, then at her. "A lot."
"Yeah. A lot. You have a lot of fever."
"Okay." Daniel took them, no questions asked, then reached for the canteen.
"Here." Vala handed it to him. "I'm warning you, do not throw up."
* * * *
The water stayed down. The Tylenol stayed down. The fever didn't and for the past fifteen minutes, Vala had obsessively stuck fever strips on Daniel's forehead. He was under every bedroll, blanket, and item of clothing Vala could find, but she couldn't stop his shaking or convulsive teeth chattering.
She'd checked out to see what was going on under his bandage when his fever had begun to rise. The area around the wound had been hotter to the touch than even Daniel was and it was swollen and pretty nauseating, so Vala meticulously followed Sam's directions. Again. Step by step, eventually re-bandaging the leg, but it hadn't stopped the fever.
"Okay. If one hundred and five lights up, I'm calling Sam. Understood? And you don't want me to call her. 'Cause then they'll all come. Teal'c, Mitchell, SG-7…” She swept her arm around the tent. "The place is a mess. You don't want anyone to see this, do you?" Vala shook her head and her hair came tumbling down. "And me?" She flipped her hair over her shoulders with her hands. "I've looked better."
* * * *
Vala didn't want to call Sam. She wanted to handle this all by herself. There was no doubt in her mind that she could take care of another person. It was like taking care of one's self and Vala was the first to admit she was damn good at that.
Daniel was hot. What did one do when they were hot? Shower? Vala snapped her fingers. She had no shower, but she had rain. Lots and lots of rain. There was no way she could drag Daniel out into the rain, so she did the next best thing, she'd bring the rain in to him.
Sticking an arm out of the tent, Vala allowed the torrential rain to soak the tee shirt in her hand. She didn't even wring it out, but carried the sodden shirt over to the lump under the covers. In one fell swoop, Vala tugged the blankets from Daniel. He scowled at her intrusion and blindly reached to pull them back up. "Cold."
"Too bad." She straddled Daniel, careful to keep her weight off his thigh, which ended up putting her ass somewhere around his groin. "Behave yourself," she reprimanded, locking his hands against his body with her knees. "I wouldn't do this for just anyone, you know."
Daniel bucked the second the cool water hit his overheated skin and for a moment Vala slipped to the right before adjusting her body weight.
As much as she knew this was the thing to do, Daniel had other ideas and by the time she'd finished, the two of them were a soggy mess.
Daniel rubbed his face against the bedroll, then opened his eyes.
Vala felt her face break out in a grin. "Are you back among the living?"
His smile was weak and one sided, and it was struggle for Daniel to keep his eyes open, but he nodded at her, tapping her thigh with a trapped finger.
"Ahhh, you want to know what I'm doing sitting on you like this?"
Daniel gave a barely perceptible nod.
Vala touched his face, disappointed that the heat was still at blast furnace level. Frustrated, she swiped the tee shirt's residual moisture along Daniel's neck. "How about round number two with this?"
They went for round two, then round three. By the fourth time, Vala was as wet as if she'd been standing under a shower, her hair and clothes sticking uncomfortably to her body. Methodically, she worked the wet tee under Daniel's own shirt, his armpits and neck. She knew Daniel was barely conscious under her ministrations, but she refused to admit failure.
"You know, I have to admit," Vala said, gently washing Daniel's hand. "I'd rather you talked than kept silent." Vala exchanged his hand for the other. "Did I ever tell you about my grandmother? Hmmmm? No?" She furrowed her brow in concentration. "I guess that's because there's nothing really to tell, except that I loved her. I know you may find this hard to believe, but my mother was a brilliant scholar." Vala sighed.
"Brilliant and beautiful.
"I got the looks, but with regard to the brilliance…" She snapped the tee lightly on his shoulder. "No comments, please." Vala placed the almost dry tee across Daniel's forehead and lay down next to him, pulling his right hand over to her. "My father was enamored with my mother. In awe of her. She was a writer. An historian. And people traveled far and wide to listen to her speak." Vala intertwined her fingers with Daniel's. "My grandmother made up for my parents' absences. She loved me and indulged me. What's that you say? Did she spoil me?" Vala laughed at the memories. "Of course she spoiled me. Only granddaughter of her only child, why wouldn't she?"
Vala used Daniel's hand to wipe away an errant tear. "My mother was killed by a fanatic who disagreed with her views. My life didn't change when I became a Goa'uld, my life changed the moment my mother was killed."
* * * *
Vala was willing to admit defeat. She was tired, exhausted, emotionally spent and terrified. Being part of the SGC was too much work, mentally and physically, and she was done. There'd been no change in Daniel's condition the past two hours. She shook his arm. Hard. "Daniel!" When he didn't respond to even his name, she finally resorted to smacking him gently across the face until he opened his eyes.
"I have to leave." She put the radio in his hands. "Call Sam, or Teal'c or Mitchell in a little while. I left you meds, the canteen, and a power bar all within reach."
"Go?"
"I'm not helping here. Nothing is working. I babble and complain. I lie. I'm never going to fit in and I refuse to delude myself any further. It's safer if I go now, let you call for help." Straightening her shoulders, she held her head up proudly. Smelly and dirty, it didn't matter, she was going to leave with dignity. "Goodbye, Daniel."
"I'm sorry," Daniel said with more strength and conviction than he'd shown for hours.
Vala snorted and swiped at her runny nose. "No reason for you to be sorry, darling. My failure, not yours." This hurt too much. Having people depend on you was more than Vala bargained for. More than she wanted. It was time to pull up stakes and move on before the risks became more than they already were.
"Don't go."
"Too late, I have one foot out the tent flap already."
"Stay, please, stay." Daniel had shakily levered himself up on both elbows.
Vala saw the fever in his eyes, the confusion on his face. He wasn't asking her to stay. Daniel wasn't pleading with Vala, he was talking to Sha're. Daniel was afraid his wife was walking out on him. "I can't do this anymore," she said sadly and turned abruptly, fumbling with the tent flap, keeping her back to him, hiding her tears.
"I have faith in you, Vala," Daniel said, crooking his finger at her.
"Get back here."
*
* * *
Daniel grabbed Vala's hand to steady it. His head still hurt and the fact she was waving another one of those damn fever strip just inches from his eyes wasn't helping his headache. "Stop it."
"Look." She was literally bouncing with joy. "Your fever's down. Doesn't it feel great?"
"Yeah, great." Even though he tried, Daniel was unable to keep the sarcastic edge from his voice. An enthusiastic great would have been fresh clothes, a shower, his own bed and comfy pillow under his body and head. Being here in this tent, with the weather still bordering on monsoon, was really starting to piss him off.
"You can be all grumbly if you want, Daniel. *I'm* in a good mood."
"Good, I'm glad. Can you take your enthusiasm over to the other side of the tent?"
Vala rewarded his snippiness with a wide, toothy smile.
He closed his eyes, but that didn't shut out her presence or her hovering. "You're worse than Jack," Daniel complained as he felt her hair brush across his face.
"Oh, just checking. I thought you were sleeping."
"Not sleeping."
"Good. Want to play a game of cards?"
* * * *
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Yeah. Right. Vala was beating his ass and by her last calculation Daniel owed her over ten thousand dollars and his chocolate stash.
"Your turn."
"Huh?" Daniel nearly fell face forward in the cards when Vala touched his arm.
"Why don't you just go to sleep?" She slapped a hand onto his sweaty forehead.
He shook off her hand, then pushed it away. "That's why."
Vala gave an indignant hrmpf and gathered up the cards. "I'm doing my duty as a member of SG-1. I'm watching your whatever—" She waved the cards at him. “You call it."
"Six," Daniel said around a yawn. "You're right. I apologize."
Vala gave him a Teal'c-like bow of acknowledgement. "As well you should be sorry."
Once again, the ache in his thigh made it nearly impossible to find a comfortable spot and he shifted and turned numerous times, looking for someplace forgiving and soft amid the blankets.
"You know what you remind me of, Daniel?" Vala sat by his side, folding and tucking Daniel's IOU into her shirt.
"No, I don't want to know what I remind you of. Saving my six doesn't give you the right to poke fun at me."
"Yes, it does. And I have to admit that I'm rather enjoying that part of team work."
* * * *
"Daniel?"
"Hmmm?" Daniel turned his head towards the static filled voice calling his name.
"Daniel, come in."
He opened one eye and patted along the area within arm's reach for the radio.
"Daniel Jackson, are you—"
"Here," he said, clearing his voice. "Here," Daniel repeated, remembering to push the button this time when he spoke.
"It is good to hear your voice, Daniel Jackson."
"Ditto, Teal'c." He struggled to sit up, cursing that Vala had let him sleep again. Long enough that stiffness had settled into his thigh muscles.
"You sound a little rough around the edges,
"I'm fine. Stiff. Sore. I need a shower and I want to go home. How's SG-7?"
"Better than you sound, Daniel."
Daniel shook his head. No missing the worry in Sam's voice. "I'm fine, Sam. Honest. Vala followed your instructions to the letter."
"Good. Will you be able to make the walk back to the 'gate?"
Daniel grimaced as he flexed his leg. "Grab me a tree branch to lean on and there shouldn't be a problem."
"I can always throw you over my shoulder," Vala volunteered, looking up from stuffing things into her backpack.
"Hey, that's my chocolate!"
Vala patted her right breast, tugging at the paper she'd stuffed in there. "It's mine. I won it playing cards, remember? I even have the paper to prove it."
"Ummm… Daniel? Do I even want to know what the hell went on there while we were holed up waiting for the rain to stop?" Sam tentatively inquired.
"Damn,
"No offense, guys," Daniel smiled at Vala. "It's in the company you keep, I guess."
"Indeed."
"On that note," Sam replied with mock indignation, "our ETA at your location should be less than two hours, so tell Vala it's time to put on her face, clean up the joint and expect company."
* * * *
Vala watched possessively as they rotated, hovering around Daniel. He was struggling over the wet path, she could see that, but he wouldn't admit it. The smile pasted on his face was false and there were those little lines of pain around his eyes that she'd become familiar with.
She sidled up to Daniel, approaching him on the side with the make-shift cane he'd been using, squeezing between him and Teal'c. "Excuse me," Vala said, smiling at Teal'c, blocking Daniel's body from his view.
"You can ask to stop, you know," she whispered. "You don't need to be Superman."
"Superman? What do you know of—" Daniel huffed, trying to keep pace.
"I do read, you know, Daniel. Siler lent them to me. Comics, I think they're called. Surely you know who Superman is? The guy with the big 'S'—" Vala paused. "Daniel needs to stop. Hold it. Wait." Vala stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled. "Now that I have your attention," Vala said when everyone turned towards her, "Daniel really, really needs to rest a moment."
Daniel leaned over and whispered into Vala's ear. "Daniel really, really, really needs to kill you."
"Why, thank you," Vala blinked innocently at Daniel. "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."
* * * *
Sam was walking by Daniel's side, Vala was behind him watching his six, a position that she surprisingly felt comfortable doing. As much as he'd complained about the ten minute break, taking the pressure off his leg for a short time, coupled with the pain pill Vala had dissolved in his canteen of water, seemed to have done a world of good. Daniel was animated, his limp was less pronounced and he'd picked up the pace. Vala could only hope that Daniel made it through the 'gate and onto an infirmary bed before he passed out.
* * * *
Vala stood in the doorway of the infirmary. Daniel looked pissed, nodding curtly at whatever Mitchell was saying, shaking his head at the folded scrubs at the foot of the bed, kicking them with his uninjured leg.
Vala could read his lips, even from this distance. 'He was fine. He just wanted to go home. Even the doctor had said his leg was healing well'. Everyone let him rant, giving him a few minutes to blow off steam, and Vala had to laugh when Teal'c shut him up by just picking up the scrubs and plopping them into Daniel's expressively moving hands.
* * * *
Vala pointed to Daniel's bed, where he laid, leg propped up on a cushion of pillows, sleeping soundly. "Daniel's a tad annoyed that Dr. Lam is keeping him overnight."
Sam snorted, unfolding her legs from their cramped position. "That's putting it mildly."
"It's my fault, you know," Vala admitted. Self-consciously, she ran her fingers along the outline Daniel's body made under the blanket.
"Your fault?" Sam yawned, stretching her arms over her head, groaning as her neck and arms cracked loudly. "How is Daniel being here possibly your fault?"
"Ummm… I sorta confessed that Daniel ran a high fever—"
Sam narrowed her eyes at Vala. "Exactly how high?"
"He thought I was Sha're," Vala said softly. "Made things a bit—"
"Awkward?"
Vala exhaled deeply. "Yeah…that's one way to describe it." She waved her hand, erasing the conversation. "I thought Dr. Lam should know, I gave her the arrow, just in case she wanted to run some—"
Daniel murmured in his sleep.
"I'd better leave." Quickly she turned, only to look down in surprise at Sam's hand anchored around her forearm.
"SG-1 tradition. No one gets left behind." Sam stood, then swiped her hand in an invitation over the seat of the plastic chair. "Whenever one of us is injured or requires precautionary infirmary time, someone always has the honor of occupying this unbelievably uncomfortable, horrible orange plastic chair.
Vala stumbled as Sam gently pushed her into the waiting chair. "Welcome aboard, Vala, enjoy the view from the command seat."
* *
* *
The fact that he was so comfortable was what actually woke Daniel. It probably had to do with how strangely appreciative he was of the clean antiseptic smell and the scratchy, yet warm blankets covering his body. Of course, that feeling was more than likely being helped along, he thought wryly as he lifted his IV'd right arm, by whatever body numbing chemical Carolyn had dispersed through his veins.
The low lighting and the hushed voices of the personnel was the first clue that it was nighttime, the second was Vala's serenade of soft snores from her cramped position on the chair. Her body was bent and folded at an impossible angle, trying to fit into the chair and her legs were stretched out to their fullest, her boot-covered feet crossed at the ankles, resting on the bed with Daniel. He jiggled her foot. "Wake up," he ordered. "I'm bored and if I have to be here and you've obviously *chosen* to be here, I think you need to wake up and tell me some more about your grandmother."
"She loved me. Took care of me. Died two years after my mother and six months before Adria moved into my life. The end." Vala didn't even open an eye as she relayed the story. "Now go to sleep or shut up, the choice is yours, but I'm going back to sleep."
"You know, you really need to compare some of these wonderfully enlightening grandma stories with Mitchell. He'll really enjoy them."
Vala glared at him through one half-way opened eye. "Are you poking fun at me?"
"Comes with the team territory. You watch my six and I can poke fun every opportunity I can get."
* * * *
"Hey, Teal'c."
"Good morning, Daniel Jackson."
Daniel rubbed the heel of his hand across his forehead, trying to press away the ache.
"Do you need for me to call Doctor Lam?"
"Nah." Daniel pointed to his temple. "Too much sleep headache." He squinted at the IV and smiled. "Thankfully it's almost empty and I can get out of here."
Coughing, then smacking his lips, it dawned on him that at this moment in time he'd sell his soul for a cup of coffee. "Teal'c, do you think—"
"I am under the impression that Doctor Lam will have breakfast sent up to you as soon as she sees you are awake."
"I'm awake," Daniel yawned. "I'd be more awake if I had a cup of coffee."
"There was mention of oatmeal and juice, I do not believe caffeine was on the menu."
"Great. Would you be interested in sneaking me in—"
"I would not. Doctor Lam appears to be a very formidable ruler of the infirmary."
"Yeah, she sorta scares the crap out of me, too." Daniel buried a yawn in the crook of his arm. "Where's Vala?"
"Having breakfast. It would appear that Doctor Lam is not as understanding about overnight visitors as Doctor Fraiser was."
"Oh, then what are you doing here?"
"It is no longer night."
"True."
"And the only way Vala Mal Doran was willing to leave was if, as she stated, 'someone's ass was occupying this chair'." Teal'c gave a respectful, tight bow in memory." It would appear that she takes the job of caring for one's teammate very seriously."
Daniel laughed. "Life is full of surprises, huh."
"Indeed it is, Daniel Jackson."
* * * *
"No."
"Yes."
"No," Daniel replied, a touch more adamantly than he'd said the word the first time. Damn, the woman was as stubborn as Janet. What the hell was it about the white lab coat and name plate with the letters CMO after their name? "I'm fine. I don't need physical therapy."
"No," she said, hard enough to send her pony tail in motion. "You don't *want* physical therapy." Carolyn opened her arms wide, palms up as if weighing an imaginary object. "Need. Want. Two very different words. You don't want PT," she reiterated, "but you need PT." She tapped her name plate. "Since you don't have CMO after your name and I do, I win this argument by default."
"How long?"
"How long what?"
"Before I'm done?"
Carolyn sat at the edge of the bed. "The damage was deep and we won't even go into the substance coating the arrow which we're still analyzing. That's probably what caused the fever—"
"Vala told you I had a fever?"
"Blood work indicated an extremely elevated white blood count—"
"Vala told you I had a fever? Why? I was fine when I—"
"Doctor Jackson. Daniel—let me put it to you this way, your idea of fine and my idea of fine mean obviously two very different things."
Carolyn winked at him. "Sort of like those two pesky 'need' and 'want' words. So you get to leave here with a cane, antibiotics, a prescription for PT three times a week and an appointment with me in two days, and for now, two weeks of medically enforced down time."
* * * *
"I promise I'll write," Vala said with a grin.
Daniel resisted the urge to tighten the straps of her backpack. "Don't touch anything. Listen. Pay attention."
She offered him up a mock salute. "Yes, mommy, I promise to be good at school."
He looked over his shoulder, snarling at Sam's smile. "This is a training mission. Remember what happened the last time you went on one of those?"
"Yes, Daniel. I do. *You* got hurt and I saved your ass."
"Vala," he sighed in frustration. "That was a mission *after* a training mission. My point is that you need to expect the unexpected. We talked about that."
"Yes, Daniel," she said slowly, patiently and with a touch of arrogance. "We did. But again—" Vala stamped her feet for emphasis. "I'm moving and getting around under my own steam." She tapped his cane. "I don't need a third leg to help me along. And—" Vala fixed the straps on her backpack. "I still have yet to collect the money you owe me."
"Make sure you duck."
"Yes, mommy."
"Don't eat all the chocolate at one sitting."
"I won't."
"There's enough to share." He dug into the pocket of his fatigues and pulled out a handful of sharpened pencils and a pack of cards. Placing hands on her shoulders, he turned her around and put the items into two side pockets of her backpack. "The pencils are for taking field notes, it's easier to type up your reports that way and the cards are for those boring nights when you want to work on team bonding."
Vala strained her neck to look over her shoulder. "What about the condoms…you know, for when one wants to really bond with the team."
Mitchell sauntered over to the two of them, linked his arm
through Vala's and pulled her away. "If she becomes impossible,
"Colonel Mitchell," Vala said with a huge grin, "have I ever told you about my grandmother?"
* * * *
Daniel stared at the steam floating above his coffee cup.
"What are you doing here?"
"Jack?" Daniel tore his concentration away from his coffee and smiled up at his friend. "I could ask you the same thing."
"Yeah, you could, but I asked you first. What are you doing here? Aren't you on downtime?"
"Is that what it takes for you to read your memos?
Moving you to
"Haven't you ever heard the old saying that distance makes the heart grow fonder?"
"I think it has to do more with you missing part of the action as opposed to the heart growing fonder thing."
"You're avoiding the question, Daniel." Jack pulled out the chair across from him and sat. Like old times, Jack helped himself to whatever on Daniel's tray appealed to him. "You can keep the orange juice, I'm taking the apple pie."
Daniel pushed the whole tray over to Jack. "Help yourself."
Jack took the glass of juice and the fork. "I think I would've rather had milk."
"Do you want me to get you a glass?" Daniel reached for his cane.
"Sit down," Jack ordered around a mouthful of pie.
"You're not even supposed to be here. And I know I already asked the
question, which you didn't answer, so I'll ask again. What are you doing here?
And Daniel, please keep in mind that I have a very important job in
"Is that supposed to scare me into submission?"
Jack paused a moment, the pie on the fork balanced precariously. "Yeah. You mean it doesn't?" He seemed genuinely surprised that Daniel wasn't forthcoming with an answer.
Embarrassed, Daniel shrugged. "I came to see Vala off. Training mission. You understand."
"Me? Why would I understand?" Jack stuck another piece into his mouth and thoughtfully chewed and swallowed before answering. "I wouldn't know a thing about promising to keep a newbie in line. Being responsible for their actions. Making sure they didn't touch anything, or came back from off world missions in one piece without being ribboned, addicted or shot with arrows.?"
Daniel took the juice back from Jack and finished half the glass. "You're an ass, you know that?"
"I'm not an ass. I'm a wonderfully, caring man who's a bit amazed that the student has become the teacher. You've done me proud, Daniel." He snatched the glass from Daniel's hand. "It's a full circle type of thing."
"Full circle?" Daniel's brows met in the middle. "I'm thinking Vala's more like retribution. Payback for every grey hair you say I put on your head."
"Well, there's that," Jack said evilly, running a hand through his hair. "I thought it was about time you got a grey hair or two."
"Thanks, Jack." Daniel sat back in his chair. "But why are you here at the SGC?"
"Just because I'm not here to physically sit in that infirmary chair, doesn't mean I don't care."
"Admit it, Jack. You came to gloat over Vala and how I feel responsible—"
"Well, there is that," Jack said, taking and finishing the glass of juice, then winked at Daniel. "Is that a grey hair I see, right about—"
Daniel slapped his hand down with a snigger. "No, it's not."
"I'm just warning you, they sneak up on you when you least expect it. One day you've got a whole head of healthy brown hair," Jack snapped his fingers. "Then overnight, bam, you're distinguished. Vala's going to do that to you. Mark my words."
"Thanks for the support and encouragement, Jack."
"Hell, Daniel, that's what friends are for."
** The End **
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