'She's Everything' P.1/4 - a mission_insane fic
Title: She's Everything, P.1
Summary: She's everything he ever wanted and everything he needs.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers/Warnings: Various different ships mentioned (Sam/insert whoever you want here, and Cam/Carolyn in later parts). Also, references to Momento Mori, Politics, and The Fifth Man.
A/N: Written for mission-insane, table 06 - 'Inspired by' Song, prompt 06: 'She's Everything' by Brad Paisley. I've broken the song up into four seperare parts (since it consists of three verses and the chorus), and have broken each individual line down into their own seperate vignettes. They can all easily be read as seperate entities. Part 1 below consists of the entire first verse.
She's Everything, P.1
She’s a yellow pair of running shoes
He was seated on the porch, busy tying the laces of his well worn in sneakers, when something yellow filled the edge of his vision just to the left. Daniel’s fingers stilled mid-tie and he slowly shifted his attention to the brightness at his side. Blue eyes blinked several times at the sight of a set of running shoes, practically glowing in the early morning light.
Ever so slowly, Daniel’s gaze drifted up the slender, smooth legs, past the incredibly short shorts and tight sports bra to the curious smile and shining eyes of Vala Mal Doran. She had her hands on her hips and held tilted to the side a fraction.
“Yes, darling?” There was a twinkle in her eyes that let him know she already knew.
Still he bit because he couldn’t stop himself. “Those shoes are a bit… loud, don’t you think?”
Vala let out a huff of air through her nose and blinked dramatically at him. “Now Daniel, how do you expect sneakers to make any kind of noise at all?”
“Oh, you know what I mean…” He sighed, returning his focus to finish tying his shoes.
“You mean, they stand out spectacularly,” She trotted down the porch steps and bounced from foot to foot in place on the walk a few steps away. “Shining bright and pretty, just like a gorgeous woman you know?”
Daniel laughed slightly and pushed himself up. He watched her bouncing in place, switching back and forth between her smiling face and almost-neon shoes. “Well, now I know I’ll never lose you.”
She stopped bouncing. “You’re sure about that?”
Laughing again, Daniel nodded. “Positive. Those shoes are so distracting, how could I not see them?”
“I know they’re distracting…” Vala answered, all knowingly. While Daniel’s attention was still on her feet, she made a dash up the walk, down the driveway, and stopped on the sidewalk in front of the house next door. Jogging in place, she turned and smiled impishly towards Daniel’s mildly surprised expression.
“That’s why I bought them!” She shouted back cheerfully before taking off down the sidewalk.
Still on the porch, Daniel let a disbelieving little laugh out into the morning air. “Damn her.” He grumbled good-naturedly as he sprinted off the porch after her. There was no way he was gonna let her little yellow shoes help her outrun him.
A holey pair of jeans
There were a lot of things Daniel liked about on-Earth digs.
There was the feeling of just knowing he was home and that he didn’t have to worry about being chased down by aliens or space bears. Knowing the weather patterns for an area was easier on Earth then off world, and easier to prepare accordingly.
Sure, it was hard to keep the curious at bay, but that was part of the appeal to him. Never on a dig before he’d joined the SGC had he felt as important as he did when he found himself in some accidentally unearthed temple that turned out to be Goa’uld. Daniel felt important - that he was the head archaeologist on a groundbreaking, yet extremely classified, dig site did wonders for his long-bruised ego.
But the best thing, he had decided, about digs on Earth was the clothing he got to wear. No BDUs, though he didn’t have a problem with them when on base or off world. He got to wear tattered over shirts, and comfortable jeans.
More importantly, though, was Vala in those jeans. Her ‘only good pair for digging’, or so she had informed him in their rush to pack and get to the recently unearthed site. Not that he was complaining.
Because every time he looked over at her bent down next to him, he’d see that slice of tan skin just under her ass poking through the tattered, holier than a priest, jeans. And every time she’d catch his looks, Vala would wink a world of treasures that only the privacy of their tent later that night would reveal.
Oh yes - Daniel really liked his on-Earth digs.
She looks great in cheap sunglasses
He’d lost her somewhere between the bags and the shoes, and couldn’t call her because she’d managed to snag his cell phone before disappearing. It always happened any time Daniel took her anywhere. Sometimes he wondered why he took her anywhere at all. It did nothing to calm his nerves to have her away from him in a very public place where any person could be a bad guy in disguise.
He knew she could handle herself, but ever since she’d been kidnapped by the Trust, Daniel really hated when she wandered away. It’s not like he could stop her though - she was always gone before he could turn around and notice.
And despite his fears, she always caught up with him again in some other part of the store. It was that knowledge he held onto when she pulled stunts like this. That she would come back to him - always.
This time was no exception. He was in the automotive department, picking up some things Sam had asked for, when a pair of familiar arms wrapped around his waist from behind. The heat of her at his back eased the knots in his stomach away, and her sultry voice relaxed his tense muscles.
“Open it.” Vala instructed, words whispered right against his left ear as she held up his cell phone.
Daniel did as instructed, taking the device from her hand and opening it up. He let out a laugh loud enough to make the older woman at the end of the aisle jump in surprise. The picture now set as his background was one of Vala’s dramatic kissy faces, though have her face was hidden behind a gaudy pair of white-rimmed sunglasses. He could just make out her eyes behind the shadowy lenses.
“You like?” She asked and Daniel turned to come face to face with the same cheap shades.
He shook his head and leaned in to place a very chaste kiss to her lips. “I love.”
Vala beamed and kissed his nose. Then she wrapped one of her arms around one of his, and let him get back to shopping. When they’d finished, and were checking out, Vala didn’t ask for him to buy the sunglasses, and Daniel didn’t protest when she simply placed the price tag in the cashier’s hand.
She wore them out of the store proudly, not even caring they’d only cost Daniel three dollars.
She looks great in anything
Daniel had realized that when Vala left the SGC in a bad mood, whether it was on a mission or off for the privacy of his home, things would get sticky.
Or in this case, muddy.
“It’s not funny.” She huffed at him, crossing her arms and stamping her foot. A large glop of mud falling from its precarious perch above her forehead right down her face only made him laugh harder. “Daniel!”
The tearful whine had him trudging forward in the knee-high sludge. He pulled his mud-covered glasses from his face, for he’d gone tumbling down the slippery incline just the same as her, and tried to control his laughter. Daniel reached up his free hand to brush some of her hair, heavy with mud, from her face.
Vala batted his hand away. “Don’t even.”
“Vala, come on…” Daniel smiled, taking a difficult step closer to her. “You can’t blame me for laughing - it was funny.”
Her heated grey glare, brighter against her dirty face, said otherwise. “Yes I can, and no it wasn’t. We could’ve gotten hurt or landed in some horrible, inescapable pit and then would’ve had to wait days for a rescue team to get us out.”
Daniel placed his glasses in a pocket on his tac vest, then gave her a patient stare. “But we didn’t get hurt, or land in an inescapable pit. We landed in a mud-pit and got a little dirty.”
“Little, Daniel?” Vala laughed angrily. “We’re covered in mud.” She looked down, dropping her arms and let out an overdramatic sigh. “I look terrible, I just know it.”
Reaching up, Daniel was pleased when she didn’t smack his hand away this time. Rubbing a thumb over her cheek, making as semi-clean smudge but earning him her watery gaze, he gave her a sweet smile. “You look adorable.”
She sighed and gave him a disbelieving look. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”
“Is it working?” He asked on a whisper, leaning in a little.
A hard-fought smile came to her. “Maybe.”
“Good…” Daniel kissed her forehead, not minding the mud in his mouth for there was already a good amount in it anyway, then began to trudge towards the incline that they’d come tumbling down. “You were saying you needed a good mud bath anyway.”
The answer he got in return was about a pound of mud impacting with the back of his head. Daniel began to turn slowly, but barely got facing her direction before a very Vala-shaped mud person tackled him to the ground.
“I’ll give you a mud bath.” She growled playfully, picking up more dirt and rubbing it into his face.
Daniel grabbed her wrists as she made to grab more mud and flipped her over. He pinned her down into the slush, enjoying her squeal of playful protest. It was hard to keep a firm hold on each other, they were both so slippery, that by the time the rest of the team had managed to maneuver down to the pit, the couple was about ten pounds heavier with mud.
Daniel would never forget the bright white smile shining through tons of brown muck when Mitchell had said Vala was the prettiest mud creature he’d ever seen, even if it meant he’d have to endure mud wrestling jokes for several years to come.
She’s: “I want a piece of chocolate.”
It was turning into months, and Daniel was feeling neglected. After so many years of having no woman at his side, he’d come to appreciate everything that was his Vala. The smell of her hair, green tea and jasmine scented. The feel of her skin against his, whether it was in the shower, in the midst of love-making, or just some good cuddling that brought them together. The fire of her lips touching his was an inferno he wanted to engulf him completely.
But Sam makes Vala her maid of honor, and Daniel lands back where he started. No Vala to snuggle up against because she was always at Sam’s, doing something or other for the wedding. No intimate shower time, no any time. Vala was committed to her best girlfriend and not her lover, and Daniel had to admit he was jealous.
So feeling jealous and neglected, Daniel knew he needed to play dirty if he wanted to have her front and center.
Waltzing into the bedroom, he dangled a bag of something delicious at his side as he passed her on the floor. She was bent over about a dozen thrown-open bridal magazines; her legs crossed Indian-style. Vala was busy writing hasty notes on a yellow legal pad, but she wasn’t too oblivious to her surroundings to not notice him go past her - or the delightful smell that went with him.
Daniel flopped onto the bed; legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. He dropped the bag in his hand onto his stomach, dug into it and pulled out a very tasty prize. Lifting it towards the ceiling, he gazed at it thoughtfully against the harsh backdrop of the fan light.
Then, without a sound, he popped the candy in his mouth.
“What’s that?” A sweet and curious voice asked from the floor as Daniel munched on the treat.
Daniel shifted a little. “Nothing.” He mumbled around the food.
There was the sound of paper rustling, then the bed dipped a bit as Vala crawled up on the end. “That doesn’t sound like nothing.” Her tone had gone very predatory.
Shrugging, Daniel smiled as he slowly tried to move the bag from his stomach to under the pillow beneath his head.
“Daniel, I want a piece of chocolate.” Vala said in a demanding, low tone that was filled with mischief and playfulness as she crawled up the bed.
Daniel shook his head. He snaked another piece out of the bag, now secure beneath the pillow, and popped it in his mouth. “No.”
Lifting her left leg over him and straddling his body, Vala lowered herself onto his stomach. She splayed her hands out over his chest, her fingers working beneath the undone button down he was wearing. “I want a piece of chocolate.”
Shaking his head again, Daniel’s smile went as wide as it could without him actually showing teeth as Vala pressed the upper part of her body against his. Her lips hovered inches from his.
“Fine…” She whispered. “I’ll just take it then.”
He happily took the blazing kiss Vala placed to his lips, letting her pirating tongue pillage the chocolate taste from his mouth. Daniel didn’t miss, however, one of her hands coming up and sneaking under the pillow. He allowed her a moment of triumph.
Vala pulled her mouth away and sat back up. “Ah ha!” She shouted, holding the chocolate out for him to see. Daniel just raised an eyebrow. He waited until she had brought the candy to her lips, eyes closing in a moment of ecstasy. Reaching his hands up, he gripped her waist and flipped her onto her back.
She laughed, dropping the rest of the chocolate in her mouth. As she chewed, eyes still closed, the metallic click and the warmth around her wrist caught her attention. Grey eyes flew open and she looked up to see her wrist cuffed to the bed.
“Now you can have more…” Daniel said casually. Vala watched him pull the bag of chocolates out and dangle it before her eyes. “When I say.”
Giving him a naughty stare, Vala pouted her lips seductively. “I’m not gonna be a good girl.”
Daniel licked his lips, then that rare mischievous smile graced his handsome face. “I know.” He extracted another piece of candy from the bag and brought it close to her lips, even as his own lips dove down to place suggestive kisses to the inside of her thigh.
She arched a little at the sensation, digging her teeth into the offered chocolate.
It would be several days later when Vala would make Daniel explain to Sam why they were a little behind in the wedding schedule.
“Take me to a movie”
“What are you doing, darling?” Vala asked as she breezed into the room, letting him know he had better pack it in because he wouldn’t be doing it for much longer. Unless she was in a working mood, no work could ever be done when Vala Mal Doran was in the room.
Daniel scratched at his chin with the hand holding his pencil. “I’m working.”
“Oh…” She leaned on her elbows against the workbench next to him. “Why?”
He never brought his attention up to her from the book he was perusing for references. “Because it’s what I get paid to do…” Slowly blue eyes looked into grey. “You like to spend my money?”
Vala grinned and nodded. “Of course I do, Daniel!”
“Well I have to work to earn it.” He said as he returned his attention to said work.
“Yes, but you don’t have to work all the time.” She reached her finger out to shift the book closer to her. Without looking up, Daniel grabbed it and put her finger right in front of her. “I don’t.”
Taking a couple notes, Daniel continued in his distracted tone. “So I’m noticing.”
Vala let out a loud sigh and climbed onto the workbench. She flopped back onto the surface, her feet beating against the side. “Let’s do something, Daniel.”
He did his hardest not to give in to her bored tone. “I’m working, Vala.”
“Please Daniel?” She whined, flipping over and propping her head on her hands.
“Working.” Daniel reiterated the point, writing down a few more notes. When his gaze returned to the book, he found a hand was now covering the majority of it.
“Daniel…” There it was - that tone she used that could melt all of his resolve. Hesitantly, Daniel brought his blue eyes up to look into hers. “Take me to a movie.”
And that was it. Sounded like it was asked, but was really an order that he couldn’t disobey. With a sigh, Daniel moved her hand and flipped the book closed. He dropped the pencil and gave her a look as she bounded off the table and threw her arms around his neck.
“Thank you.” She said simply.
“Yeah…” Daniel answered with a roll of his eyes. Pulling her arms down, he hooked one through his and escorted her out of his office. He made sure to turn the light off and close the door behind them. There would be no more work for him that day - he’d known it the moment she walked in.
She’s: “I can’t find a thing to wear”
Things were up. That was Daniel’s first thought as he entered the room and found every possible surface covered in clothing. Dresses, jeans, shirts of varying types - strewn everywhere and every which way that was imaginable. How one pair of jeans had managed to land in the bathtub in the joining bathroom, he wasn’t really sure.
“Hunny, you okay?” He ventured timidly, taking a dangerous step towards the closest. If it was possible, more clothes were spewing out from the gaping mouth. Daniel didn’t even want to begin to know how she managed to get all of her wardrobe into the tiny space.
“Do I look okay?” Vala snapped back as soon as her eyes landed on him. She swept one empty hand up and down her body, clad only in a black bra, panties, and black open-toed heels.
Daniel stood looking like a guppy, mouth opening and closing for a few moments. He knew whatever he was gonna say would be wrong, so the smart thing to do was probably say nothing. But he wasn’t always in control of his mouth sometimes.
“You look - not ready.”
If looks could kill…
“Of course I’m not ready!” She barked, throwing the handful of clothes on hangars in her right hand directly at him. “I’ll never be ready! I look horrible in everything I wear…” Vala pointed a finger at him as he opened his mouth to protest, the tossed clothes hanging in his hands. “Don’t tell me anything different, or I swear to any god I know I’ll beat you up like I did on that damn ship!”
Dropping the clothes and holding up his hands, Daniel shook his head. This time he had the smarts to not say a word.
Vala’s face fell after a moment and tears welled in her eyes. “I can’t find a thing to wear, Daniel. All those prissy government wives are gonna look fabulous, and I’m gonna look like polished up space trash.”
Seeing his opportunity, Daniel stepped over mounds of clothes to stand before her. Placing gentle hands over her chilled arms, he gave her his sincerest look. “Then we won’t go.”
Obviously that wasn’t what she was expecting. “What?”
“Well, if you can’t find a thing to wear and I can’t convince you that you look a million times better than those old trophy wives…” Daniel smiled his sweetest smile. “Then we won’t bother going.” He brought one of his hands down to fiddle in the side of her panties. “I know, for a fact, that you don’t need any clothes if we’re gonna stay here.”
Even though his words and actions were more than suggestive, Daniel could tell he’d done right by Vala. He could tell in the way her body relaxed beneath his touch and the little breath she let out in relief.
And even when he knew he would catch hell for missing the banquet, Daniel didn’t mind. He would rather take the verbal wrath of a few disgruntled politicians over the wrath of a woman who could kick his ass three ways from Sunday.
Now and then she’s moody
Normally, Vala was the picture of happiness. Always bubbly and friendly, bouncing down the hallways and annoying the crap out of almost everyone. But there were days, every now and then, when she would get in a mood. Those were the days when most people tended to avoid her, or at the least, not upset her.
Daniel wasn’t most people.
The others thought he was crazy for taking her low blows and compromising remarks after he’d not heeded the warnings to stay away. It couldn’t be healthy for the relationship to have one storm off in a fit of anger, and have the other left sitting at the commissary table, blushing with embarrassment of a nasty kind.
But what the others never knew was that her anger only lasted so long. It would quickly drain away, leaving guilt, fear, and grief that Vala never dealt with in its wake.
They never saw her, hours later, standing timidly in his office doorway. They never heard the way she called him, the ‘Daniel’ so delicate and burdened, or his calm ‘yes?’ in response to his name.
They never knew she would walk up to him at his desk, wringing her hands in an endless cycle, and apologize in such a way…
“I’m sorry.” She would whispered, trying to look like it had been all a playful game. But the way her face always crumbled into turmoil would say otherwise.
And they never knew he would stand then, gather her in his arms and let her know he wasn’t gonna let a bad day keep them apart for long.
She never cried, and he never asked her if she wanted to talk about it. Bad days were warranted - even he had them from time to time. People might have thought it safe to avoid her when she was moody, but at the end of the day, only Daniel was the one who was human enough to understand. And only Daniel was the one who curled up with her in bed those nights.
She’s a Saturn with a sunroof with her dark hair a-blowing
“I can’t believe I’m doing this!” Daniel laughed to the wind, pumping the gas of the car a little bit more. He turned the steering wheel at the right moment, causing the super-fast car to take the turn at a heart-racing speed.
In the passenger seat beside him, Vala smiled to the roof. “Yes you can, darling.” She lifted her head up from the back of the seat, her hair whipping around her face. “You’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to get Cameron back for the little prank he pulled with the itching powder.”
Daniel grinned, taking another fast turn and leading the car higher up the mountain road. “Yes, but does taking a joyride in his new Saturn really count as payback?”
“It does when he doesn’t know you’ve taken the car.” She murmured playfully, joining in with him as he laughed again.
Not daring to spare her a glance at the speed he was going, Daniel made his comment anyway. “Of course it helps to have an accomplice to help swipe the keys from his locker.”
Vala leaned her head back against the seat again and smiled. “Who knew my long dormant talents would come in so handy to you?” She reached up and fiddled with the controls to the sunroof.
“Yes, who knew?” Daniel mocked her accent, earning a good punch to his right arm.
“So,” Vala reached into the visor above his head and took out the lone CD case. “Let’s see what our dear Colonel likes to jam to.” Popping the case open, she ‘hmmmm’ed curiously.
Slowing the car down a little, Daniel glanced over as she held it up so he could see. “Bon Jovi, huh?” He snorted a little. “Never pictured Mitchell as a glam rock guy.”
Tilting her head, Vala popped the CD out. “I guess it was all the leather.”
The car swerved a little as Daniel burst out laughing. Once he felt a little under control once more. “Don’t do that while I’m driving.”
“Oh, so save the ‘Cameron is gay’ jokes for the dinner table?” Vala questioned innocently, cranking the volume as the beginning tune for ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ began to come over the speakers.
Daniel threw her a smirk. “You are a bad girl.”
Pulling Cam’s sunglasses out of the center console, Vala slipped them on. “The worst.” She grinned, and then began belting the chorus to the song as it came on.
Caught up in the moment, Daniel couldn’t help himself from joining her. He hit the gas a little harder again, taking the car deeper into the back mountain woods of Cheyenne Mountain.
Hours later, they’d pulled back into the SGC parking area to find Cam leaning angrily against Daniel’s truck.
“Oh, he’s mad!” Vala announced delightfully
Daniel unbuckled his seat belt and looked at her. “Yeah, wait until he finds out the back seat came in very handy.” He gave her a wink and opened his door.
“Yes…” Vala opened her door, but the pair shared a look before climbing out. “Well, ’Lay Your Hands On Me’ is just a…hands on…kind of song.”
She’s a soft place to land
Daniel ached all over. Everything, from his head, to his back, to his knees, was screaming. Muscles burned from overuse and exhaustion weighed him down like a lead balloon. It was all he could do to keep his eyes open as he limped his way from the elevator to his quarters, his boot dangling from near-limp fingers.
Only one thing kept him going, and that was her lying in the comfortable bed. The thought made the throbbing of sore joints, and an ankle that was twice its normal size, a little more bearable. All he had to do was slide the card through the reader, push open the door, undress and crawl in bed.
Each hurdle, each mental push, had been leading up to this moment. Daniel had kept going, under sheer force of will, knowing she would be there to soften the blow when the will gave out and he came crashing down.
The tumble began when he opened the door and stepped in the room, seeing her snuggled up beneath the blanket on the bed. Like a descent in slow motion, Daniel felt the lead loosening as if in freefall. Each piece of clothing he shed thundered hard against the floor, freeing him of unnecessary weight.
He hit a snag at the pants, though. His ankle had swelled just a little bit snugger against the material, making it near impossible to pull the damn pants off without inducing pain. Daniel found he was too exhausted to even attempt to pull them off standing up, so he collapsed to a disorderly sitting heap on the floor.
“Damn it.” He mumbled, hissing at the lightest brushing of material on his tender skin. Maybe Carolyn had been right about the overnight stay in her infirmary. She had said it was just a bit swollen from walking on it too much, but had insisted on a stay nonetheless. Daniel had fought her, of course, and finally she’d caved when he’d gone dirty and used words like ‘Cameron’ and ‘missed him.’
Daniel hissed again as he stood up and overcorrected, putting too much pressure on the sprain.
“Daniel?” Vala’s tired mumble drifted up from the blanket cocoon.
Limping the short distance caused more pain than he would’ve admitted. “Yeah, it’s…” Daniel winced. “Me.”
Vala pushed up in bed and tried to get a glimpse of him in the darkness. “Are you okay?” She questioned with a tone thick with sleep and heavy with concern. “You sound hurt.”
“I am hurt.” He told her, lowering onto the edge of the bed. When Vala moved to sit up even more, his words catching her attention, Daniel placed a hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back down. “My back hurts, my knees hurt, my hands - hell, even my brain feels bruised.”
He maneuvered himself into a laying position, with a few grunts of pain thrown in. “And I did one hell of a number on my ankle.” Daniel confessed, cuddling up to her back. He wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled his nose softly into her neck.
“You should be in the infirmary.” Vala whispered sleepily, the way her body practically melted into his embrace contesting her words.
“I know.” He whispered back, the pull of sleep and the need to just hold her denying any further words from escaping. Daniel had reached the end of his descent, and Vala was the softness that kept him safe after such a fall.
And a good feeling knowing
There was nothing worse than listening to a big-headed politician preach priority after he’d only found out about the program just two weeks before. Sure, Daniel had been through enough of these diatribes over the years - with Kinsey, with Simmons, with all the various delegates from at least a hundred different worlds.
That didn’t make sitting through one any easier. No amount of experience could stem the kind of boredom produced by some aging government type’s monotone voice.
Suppressing yet another yawn as Senator something or other droned on, Daniel continued to doodle on the legal pad in front of him. Just another of Jack’s bad habits he’d picked up over the years. There was a collection of briefing doodles made by all the members of SG-1, some stupid tradition that they had latched onto in the early days. This one was definitely gonna have to go in there.
“Are you listening, Doctor Jackson?” The Senator demanded and all eyes turned on Daniel as he looked up from his artistic masterpiece.
He smiled wanly. “Of course, Senator. You were talking about us playing havoc with the world’s greatest asset and deepest secret…” Daniel had always had the knack of hearing what someone said even when he was distracted. It was what had helped him learn so many languages so easily.
The baited line worked like a charm and the Senator went back to his rant. It would mean another forty-five minutes of mindless preaching, but at least Daniel wasn’t under the microscope. Just to make sure he wasn’t singled out again, he began to nod dramatically at all the right moments. Not enough to draw attention, but enough to show he was paying attention…ish.
Another bad little habit picked up from way too much time with Jack O’Neill.
Daniel was fighting a smile at the thought when something landed in his lap under the briefing table. Using his free hand - for he couldn’t stop the massive doodle mid-mustache on Senator Unimportant - he carefully unwrapped the hidden note and read the elegant writing.
‘The mustache - it’s not big enough.’
Licking his lips, Daniel looked up at the raven haired trouble maker in the seat next to him. Vala seemed transfixed with every word coming from the Senator’s mouth. The doe-eyed expression of hers, of course, was an obvious tell to Daniel that she was just leading the old wannabe on. She’d done it to him enough for him to recognize it.
He stopped his doodling for a moment and scrawled a quick response back.
‘Actually, I was going for more of a poostache.’
As if she’d been watching him the whole time, Vala brought one of her hands down from its place fisted at her cheek and discreetly took the note back. She sat back in her chair and casually opened the note. After a moment, her grey eyes glanced at his masterpiece, and then up at him. She raised her eyebrows in an agreement to his comment, and then returned her attention to the still talking Senator.
Even still, Vala managed to write a comment back.
Daniel nearly laughed at what it said.
‘He does seem like the shit-eating type to me. Perfect ASSessment, darling.’
“Care to share, Dr. Jackson?” The Senator had noticed Daniel looking up from the note in his lap and fighting hard to hide the amusement on his face.
“Oh, no sir…” He pocketed the paper and leaned back in his chair. “Please, continue.” He added in a way that would make Jack O’Neill proud.
The Senator gave him a displeased glare, and then returned to his tirade. When the heat was once again off of him, Daniel spared a glance in Vala’s direction. She was still feigning interest in the pompous jerk, but for a moment she was able to slip her gaze his direction and offer up a subtle wink.
Daniel ducked his head in an attempt to hide his smile. It was hard to, though, when it was such a good feeling knowing that Vala was just there - that he wasn’t alone, even when it came to getting in trouble.
She’s a warm conversation that I wouldn’t miss for nothing.
“Jackson, what the hell are you doing?” Cam muttered from the double bed just two feet from Daniel’s.
Rolling onto his back, Daniel held the cell phone in his hand up and hit his first speed dial. “The same thing I do every night, Pinky…” He smiled at his joke while bringing the phone to his ear.
A groan came from the other bed. “Princess has got you wrapped tighter than…well, than something tight.” The lack of creativity in the Colonel’s words just reminded them both how tired they were. The creak of the bed moving as Cam shifted followed, and then- “And I’m not Pinky.”
“Well, you’re definitely not the Brain.” Daniel quipped around a yawn just as the other end finally picked up.
Her voice was soft and lethargic, but just as beautiful as it had been the night before. “Hello?”
Daniel closed his eyes and tried to picture Vala wrapped up in the comforter on their bed. “Hey, did I wake you?”
“Maybe.” There was that playful inflection to her tone. Damn, he really did miss her.
“I’m sorry… I can let you go if you want.” He said sympathetically, though near praying she would decline the offer.
Vala laughed airily into the phone, causing static in his ear. “Come now, Daniel.” He could hear her shifting in bed and the very faint sign on the bedside lamp switching on. “Why would I ever not want to talk to you?”
Smiling smugly, Daniel tilted his head. “You don’t seem to like it when I’m lecturing you.”
“Yes, well…let’s not dwell on that.” She said in a way that conveyed the smile in her voice over the phone. “So, how goes things with the Washington big heads? Still having a hard time?”
The smile fell a little at the reminder of why they were currently not together. “If I wasn’t, I would be there right now instead of in this room with a cranky Colonel.”
“I heard that.” Cam mumbled from the depths of his pillow.
Daniel turned onto his shoulder, away from the other bed. Vala went on talking, but he didn’t really hear her words. He gazed through the opening in the curtains in front of the sliding glass door. The lights of D.C. shined brightly through the small opening, and just drove home how he wanted to be home even more.
“I miss you.” He blurted, halting her mid-gossip which he wasn’t even listening to in the first place.
“I miss you too, Daniel.” Vala responded after a moment. It was obvious by her tone that she’d been thrown by his admission. “Darling, are you okay?”
Daniel sighed and closed his eyes. “I will be… just talk to me. Hearing you is the one thing I’ve looked forward to all day.”
“Well, that makes me feel kind of special.” She preened for a moment. Then her voice softened. “You really do miss me, huh?”
He nodded into his pillow. “Yes, I really do. I wouldn’t miss these talks with you for anything…” Daniel grabbed his pillow and turned over, chucking it at Cam after the ‘oh god!’ he’d moaned with disgust.
“Do you two need to be separated?” Vala asked with amusement after she heard a thump and Daniel’s shouted ‘hey!’ on the other end of the phone.
“Desperately.” Daniel finally sighed, flopping down into his pillow. It had been returned in much the same manner it had been lost. “But enough about me and Cameron,” He let his voice rise at the name, practically shouting it to the other bed. He saw an absent hand waving in the darkness in response.
“Tell me all about you…please.” Daniel finished, letting his eyes close. Vala happily agreed to the topic, and began telling him all about her adventures back home without him. He didn’t care if it was all about her shopping fiascos or botched nail appointments. Her voice was soothing and calmed him in a way that even the most peaceful sleep couldn’t provide.
Cam would probably bitch at him in the morning for staying up half the night again, talking to his girl. But Daniel didn’t care. He hadn’t been lying when he’d said he wouldn’t miss it for anything.
She’s a fighter when she’s mad.
Daniel knew things were bad for him. He’d learned a lot of the tells for when things weren’t going well within his body. The numb, tingly feeling his fingers were experiencing wasn’t a good thing. The way pain throbbed behind his eyes, and the world seemed to twist and turn even when he was sitting still, told of a concussion. Those were never good. Oh, and he’d been coughing up blood for days.
Of course, interrogation and torture never made for good family fun. He’d known the moment they’d captured him, and dragged him into the cell he now occupied, that things were bad for him.
Daniel laughed deliriously at his train of thought, letting his head drop and his eyes drift shut. The world seemed to fade out of existence for a while after that, and he was lost in a haze of pain and confusion.
A tapping on his cheek brought him back, and he lifted his head. Slowly, Daniel opened his heavy eyelids to take in a sight that really wasn’t all that bad.
“There you are.” She smiled, brushing away the dirt that caked one side of his face. “I was wondering if I’d have to carry you out of here.”
He snorted. “You can’t carry me…too fat.” Were his words slurring? He really couldn’t tell because he was too busy trying to lie down and drift off into the haziness again.
A hand on his other cheek stopped his descent. “You’re not fat, silly.” Her voice was so soft, so welcoming. It made him smile some more. “You are buff and handsome and strong.” She busied herself with trying to get him to his feet. He had to admit it was hard seeing as it didn’t feel like he had any feet at all.
“You’re pretty.” Daniel whispered, now trying to lean in close to her.
“Thank you, darling.” She laughed, slinging his arm over her shoulder. “I’m hoping you’ll remember saying that after the drugs wear off.”
Daniel shook his head, causing them both to stumble as she tried to lead him out of the cell. “Didn’t drug me…” He blinked at the open door. Had that always been that way? He laughed again. “Just hit me… a lot.”
She had maneuvered him out into the hallway, where it seemed more people were waiting. “I can see that.”
Continuing on like she hadn’t spoken, Daniel tried to slide down the wall she had rested him against. “They hit me, and kicked me…did lots of not nice things.” Several pairs of hands pulled him back to a semi-standing position.
Then his arm was slung over another set of shoulders, and he was moving with them. They seemed to be talking to each other, and ignoring him. All their voices were loud in his ears and made his head hurt.
Still, Daniel continued talking. “And they had a woman…” The talking seemed to quiet down a bit at his words now. “She was pretty,” He smiled and pointed at her as they stopped moving. “Like you! She…she was all…hot.”
“Man, they really put you through the wringer…” A familiar southern drawl came from his left and Daniel tried to look that direction. The person the voice belonged to was blurry and swam before him like a mirage.
He began to list to the side. “I don’t know about that…” Daniel whipped his head back around, and stumbled backwards into someone. He wasn’t sure who, but she was standing before him again so it couldn’t have been her. “But I know she…the woman…”
Another smile came to his face, especially when she got closer. “Know she what, Daniel?”
“Kissed me…a lot.” He whispered to her with that smile still on his face.
“Oh she did?” There was an unusual quality to her exotic voice, and it made Daniel frown. His frown deepened as she moved out of his line of sight, and that southern drawl, just at his left ear, called out to her desperately. Then explosions and gun fire started going around him, and the sound alone sent him to his knees.
A strong arm across his chest halted him and pulled him back up. Then he was being dragged along once more. Daniel tried to figure out what was going on - why everyone was shooting all of a sudden. He looked around, trying to figure out where she’d gone.
Then he saw her, like a moment of clarity. “That’s Vala.” He tried to point at the beautiful creature across the room, moving with all the grace of a cat attacking its prey. A lot of prey in this case.
“Yes, it is.” The voice, he suddenly remembered, belonged to Mitchell. It was the strained, sort of pissed off way it’d come off this time that had hit it home. Daniel turned his head to look at him. So he was the one dragging him along.
“What’s she doing?” Daniel asked in confusion, letting Cam shove him down behind a large stone something. It made for a good backrest, he assumed. His unfocused blue gaze looked up at the man now shooting over his backrest.
Mitchell looked down at him for a second. “She’s kickin’ ass.”
Blinking, Daniel looked across at the wall just a few inches from his one outstretched leg. Wow, why had they picked such a tiny space to sit in? “Oh…” He frowned again after a moment, looking back at the Colonel. “Why?”
“I believe it is because the leader of the group who kidnapped you kissed you.” Another familiar rumble of a voice said just to his left. Daniel looked that way and smiled. Teal’c was here too!
Then his words began to set in. “Oh…” And then they really set in through the muddiness of his head. “Oh!” Daniel looked between his two friends, finally feeling like he understood something for the first time in days. “That’s bad.”
Cam laughed. “Yeah, I think the bad guys are finding that out the hard way right now.”
“Bad…really, really bad.” Daniel nodded like he’d never heard Mitchell. Vala didn’t like when someone kissed something that was hers - she got mad when they did. And Vala being mad was a bad thing. And Daniel had thought things had gone bad for him.
And she’s a lover when she’s loving
He barely had the door closed before she was at him, pushing him back against the hard wood material. Hands clutching his neck on both sides, nails digging in, her lips were like an unavoidable flame as they pressed hard to his.
Daniel tried to get a hold of the situation before he lost control completely. “Vala…work.” He mumbled against her, futilely pushing at her with his free hand against her chest.
Her grey eyes were ablaze as she pulled back to stare at him. One of her hands came from the side of his neck to take hold of the files he was holding. The ones he had told her he was bringing home to work on. The ones she now tossed to the floor in an uncaring pile.
“Can wait.” She practically ordered. Her hand once more came up to his neck and pulled his head down to meet her lips in another kiss. Daniel found the last of his resolve flittering to the floor with the papers as Vala dipped her tongue into his mouth. He brought his hands around to grip her ass and hoisted her up. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist.
Daniel bodily pushed himself off the door and carried Vala through the house towards the bedroom, their lips and tongues never letting up. Only when he was at the threshold to the room did he pull back. Hands still cupping his face, Vala kept Daniel’s gaze on hers as he lowered her to a standing position once more.
“You shouldn’t love me like I love you.” She whispered, placing the softest of kisses against his lips.
“Too late.” Daniel whispered back. He reached up and grabbed her hands, pulling them down and holding onto them as he guided her backwards into the bedroom. They kept moving until the back of Vala’s knees connected with the bed and she found herself sitting on the mattress.
Kneeling before her and entwining their fingers, Daniel leaned in and gave Vala his own soft kiss. He felt her smile against him and pulled back so he could see it in full. Sitting before him wasn’t the lustful seductress that had pounced at the door, but the beautiful lover that she’d only shown to one person.
“I love you.” Vala murmured the words so soft that they seemed to brush against him like silk. And Daniel smiled for her like he never smiled for anyone else because she was his one person, just like he was hers.
Comments and feedback are definitely appreciated!
Summary: She's everything he ever wanted and everything he needs.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers/Warnings: Various different ships mentioned (Sam/insert whoever you want here, and Cam/Carolyn in later parts). Also, references to Momento Mori, Politics, and The Fifth Man.
A/N: Written for mission-insane, table 06 - 'Inspired by' Song, prompt 06: 'She's Everything' by Brad Paisley. I've broken the song up into four seperare parts (since it consists of three verses and the chorus), and have broken each individual line down into their own seperate vignettes. They can all easily be read as seperate entities. Part 1 below consists of the entire first verse.
She's Everything, P.1
She’s a yellow pair of running shoes
He was seated on the porch, busy tying the laces of his well worn in sneakers, when something yellow filled the edge of his vision just to the left. Daniel’s fingers stilled mid-tie and he slowly shifted his attention to the brightness at his side. Blue eyes blinked several times at the sight of a set of running shoes, practically glowing in the early morning light.
Ever so slowly, Daniel’s gaze drifted up the slender, smooth legs, past the incredibly short shorts and tight sports bra to the curious smile and shining eyes of Vala Mal Doran. She had her hands on her hips and held tilted to the side a fraction.
“Yes, darling?” There was a twinkle in her eyes that let him know she already knew.
Still he bit because he couldn’t stop himself. “Those shoes are a bit… loud, don’t you think?”
Vala let out a huff of air through her nose and blinked dramatically at him. “Now Daniel, how do you expect sneakers to make any kind of noise at all?”
“Oh, you know what I mean…” He sighed, returning his focus to finish tying his shoes.
“You mean, they stand out spectacularly,” She trotted down the porch steps and bounced from foot to foot in place on the walk a few steps away. “Shining bright and pretty, just like a gorgeous woman you know?”
Daniel laughed slightly and pushed himself up. He watched her bouncing in place, switching back and forth between her smiling face and almost-neon shoes. “Well, now I know I’ll never lose you.”
She stopped bouncing. “You’re sure about that?”
Laughing again, Daniel nodded. “Positive. Those shoes are so distracting, how could I not see them?”
“I know they’re distracting…” Vala answered, all knowingly. While Daniel’s attention was still on her feet, she made a dash up the walk, down the driveway, and stopped on the sidewalk in front of the house next door. Jogging in place, she turned and smiled impishly towards Daniel’s mildly surprised expression.
“That’s why I bought them!” She shouted back cheerfully before taking off down the sidewalk.
Still on the porch, Daniel let a disbelieving little laugh out into the morning air. “Damn her.” He grumbled good-naturedly as he sprinted off the porch after her. There was no way he was gonna let her little yellow shoes help her outrun him.
A holey pair of jeans
There were a lot of things Daniel liked about on-Earth digs.
There was the feeling of just knowing he was home and that he didn’t have to worry about being chased down by aliens or space bears. Knowing the weather patterns for an area was easier on Earth then off world, and easier to prepare accordingly.
Sure, it was hard to keep the curious at bay, but that was part of the appeal to him. Never on a dig before he’d joined the SGC had he felt as important as he did when he found himself in some accidentally unearthed temple that turned out to be Goa’uld. Daniel felt important - that he was the head archaeologist on a groundbreaking, yet extremely classified, dig site did wonders for his long-bruised ego.
But the best thing, he had decided, about digs on Earth was the clothing he got to wear. No BDUs, though he didn’t have a problem with them when on base or off world. He got to wear tattered over shirts, and comfortable jeans.
More importantly, though, was Vala in those jeans. Her ‘only good pair for digging’, or so she had informed him in their rush to pack and get to the recently unearthed site. Not that he was complaining.
Because every time he looked over at her bent down next to him, he’d see that slice of tan skin just under her ass poking through the tattered, holier than a priest, jeans. And every time she’d catch his looks, Vala would wink a world of treasures that only the privacy of their tent later that night would reveal.
Oh yes - Daniel really liked his on-Earth digs.
She looks great in cheap sunglasses
He’d lost her somewhere between the bags and the shoes, and couldn’t call her because she’d managed to snag his cell phone before disappearing. It always happened any time Daniel took her anywhere. Sometimes he wondered why he took her anywhere at all. It did nothing to calm his nerves to have her away from him in a very public place where any person could be a bad guy in disguise.
He knew she could handle herself, but ever since she’d been kidnapped by the Trust, Daniel really hated when she wandered away. It’s not like he could stop her though - she was always gone before he could turn around and notice.
And despite his fears, she always caught up with him again in some other part of the store. It was that knowledge he held onto when she pulled stunts like this. That she would come back to him - always.
This time was no exception. He was in the automotive department, picking up some things Sam had asked for, when a pair of familiar arms wrapped around his waist from behind. The heat of her at his back eased the knots in his stomach away, and her sultry voice relaxed his tense muscles.
“Open it.” Vala instructed, words whispered right against his left ear as she held up his cell phone.
Daniel did as instructed, taking the device from her hand and opening it up. He let out a laugh loud enough to make the older woman at the end of the aisle jump in surprise. The picture now set as his background was one of Vala’s dramatic kissy faces, though have her face was hidden behind a gaudy pair of white-rimmed sunglasses. He could just make out her eyes behind the shadowy lenses.
“You like?” She asked and Daniel turned to come face to face with the same cheap shades.
He shook his head and leaned in to place a very chaste kiss to her lips. “I love.”
Vala beamed and kissed his nose. Then she wrapped one of her arms around one of his, and let him get back to shopping. When they’d finished, and were checking out, Vala didn’t ask for him to buy the sunglasses, and Daniel didn’t protest when she simply placed the price tag in the cashier’s hand.
She wore them out of the store proudly, not even caring they’d only cost Daniel three dollars.
She looks great in anything
Daniel had realized that when Vala left the SGC in a bad mood, whether it was on a mission or off for the privacy of his home, things would get sticky.
Or in this case, muddy.
“It’s not funny.” She huffed at him, crossing her arms and stamping her foot. A large glop of mud falling from its precarious perch above her forehead right down her face only made him laugh harder. “Daniel!”
The tearful whine had him trudging forward in the knee-high sludge. He pulled his mud-covered glasses from his face, for he’d gone tumbling down the slippery incline just the same as her, and tried to control his laughter. Daniel reached up his free hand to brush some of her hair, heavy with mud, from her face.
Vala batted his hand away. “Don’t even.”
“Vala, come on…” Daniel smiled, taking a difficult step closer to her. “You can’t blame me for laughing - it was funny.”
Her heated grey glare, brighter against her dirty face, said otherwise. “Yes I can, and no it wasn’t. We could’ve gotten hurt or landed in some horrible, inescapable pit and then would’ve had to wait days for a rescue team to get us out.”
Daniel placed his glasses in a pocket on his tac vest, then gave her a patient stare. “But we didn’t get hurt, or land in an inescapable pit. We landed in a mud-pit and got a little dirty.”
“Little, Daniel?” Vala laughed angrily. “We’re covered in mud.” She looked down, dropping her arms and let out an overdramatic sigh. “I look terrible, I just know it.”
Reaching up, Daniel was pleased when she didn’t smack his hand away this time. Rubbing a thumb over her cheek, making as semi-clean smudge but earning him her watery gaze, he gave her a sweet smile. “You look adorable.”
She sighed and gave him a disbelieving look. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”
“Is it working?” He asked on a whisper, leaning in a little.
A hard-fought smile came to her. “Maybe.”
“Good…” Daniel kissed her forehead, not minding the mud in his mouth for there was already a good amount in it anyway, then began to trudge towards the incline that they’d come tumbling down. “You were saying you needed a good mud bath anyway.”
The answer he got in return was about a pound of mud impacting with the back of his head. Daniel began to turn slowly, but barely got facing her direction before a very Vala-shaped mud person tackled him to the ground.
“I’ll give you a mud bath.” She growled playfully, picking up more dirt and rubbing it into his face.
Daniel grabbed her wrists as she made to grab more mud and flipped her over. He pinned her down into the slush, enjoying her squeal of playful protest. It was hard to keep a firm hold on each other, they were both so slippery, that by the time the rest of the team had managed to maneuver down to the pit, the couple was about ten pounds heavier with mud.
Daniel would never forget the bright white smile shining through tons of brown muck when Mitchell had said Vala was the prettiest mud creature he’d ever seen, even if it meant he’d have to endure mud wrestling jokes for several years to come.
She’s: “I want a piece of chocolate.”
It was turning into months, and Daniel was feeling neglected. After so many years of having no woman at his side, he’d come to appreciate everything that was his Vala. The smell of her hair, green tea and jasmine scented. The feel of her skin against his, whether it was in the shower, in the midst of love-making, or just some good cuddling that brought them together. The fire of her lips touching his was an inferno he wanted to engulf him completely.
But Sam makes Vala her maid of honor, and Daniel lands back where he started. No Vala to snuggle up against because she was always at Sam’s, doing something or other for the wedding. No intimate shower time, no any time. Vala was committed to her best girlfriend and not her lover, and Daniel had to admit he was jealous.
So feeling jealous and neglected, Daniel knew he needed to play dirty if he wanted to have her front and center.
Waltzing into the bedroom, he dangled a bag of something delicious at his side as he passed her on the floor. She was bent over about a dozen thrown-open bridal magazines; her legs crossed Indian-style. Vala was busy writing hasty notes on a yellow legal pad, but she wasn’t too oblivious to her surroundings to not notice him go past her - or the delightful smell that went with him.
Daniel flopped onto the bed; legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. He dropped the bag in his hand onto his stomach, dug into it and pulled out a very tasty prize. Lifting it towards the ceiling, he gazed at it thoughtfully against the harsh backdrop of the fan light.
Then, without a sound, he popped the candy in his mouth.
“What’s that?” A sweet and curious voice asked from the floor as Daniel munched on the treat.
Daniel shifted a little. “Nothing.” He mumbled around the food.
There was the sound of paper rustling, then the bed dipped a bit as Vala crawled up on the end. “That doesn’t sound like nothing.” Her tone had gone very predatory.
Shrugging, Daniel smiled as he slowly tried to move the bag from his stomach to under the pillow beneath his head.
“Daniel, I want a piece of chocolate.” Vala said in a demanding, low tone that was filled with mischief and playfulness as she crawled up the bed.
Daniel shook his head. He snaked another piece out of the bag, now secure beneath the pillow, and popped it in his mouth. “No.”
Lifting her left leg over him and straddling his body, Vala lowered herself onto his stomach. She splayed her hands out over his chest, her fingers working beneath the undone button down he was wearing. “I want a piece of chocolate.”
Shaking his head again, Daniel’s smile went as wide as it could without him actually showing teeth as Vala pressed the upper part of her body against his. Her lips hovered inches from his.
“Fine…” She whispered. “I’ll just take it then.”
He happily took the blazing kiss Vala placed to his lips, letting her pirating tongue pillage the chocolate taste from his mouth. Daniel didn’t miss, however, one of her hands coming up and sneaking under the pillow. He allowed her a moment of triumph.
Vala pulled her mouth away and sat back up. “Ah ha!” She shouted, holding the chocolate out for him to see. Daniel just raised an eyebrow. He waited until she had brought the candy to her lips, eyes closing in a moment of ecstasy. Reaching his hands up, he gripped her waist and flipped her onto her back.
She laughed, dropping the rest of the chocolate in her mouth. As she chewed, eyes still closed, the metallic click and the warmth around her wrist caught her attention. Grey eyes flew open and she looked up to see her wrist cuffed to the bed.
“Now you can have more…” Daniel said casually. Vala watched him pull the bag of chocolates out and dangle it before her eyes. “When I say.”
Giving him a naughty stare, Vala pouted her lips seductively. “I’m not gonna be a good girl.”
Daniel licked his lips, then that rare mischievous smile graced his handsome face. “I know.” He extracted another piece of candy from the bag and brought it close to her lips, even as his own lips dove down to place suggestive kisses to the inside of her thigh.
She arched a little at the sensation, digging her teeth into the offered chocolate.
It would be several days later when Vala would make Daniel explain to Sam why they were a little behind in the wedding schedule.
“Take me to a movie”
“What are you doing, darling?” Vala asked as she breezed into the room, letting him know he had better pack it in because he wouldn’t be doing it for much longer. Unless she was in a working mood, no work could ever be done when Vala Mal Doran was in the room.
Daniel scratched at his chin with the hand holding his pencil. “I’m working.”
“Oh…” She leaned on her elbows against the workbench next to him. “Why?”
He never brought his attention up to her from the book he was perusing for references. “Because it’s what I get paid to do…” Slowly blue eyes looked into grey. “You like to spend my money?”
Vala grinned and nodded. “Of course I do, Daniel!”
“Well I have to work to earn it.” He said as he returned his attention to said work.
“Yes, but you don’t have to work all the time.” She reached her finger out to shift the book closer to her. Without looking up, Daniel grabbed it and put her finger right in front of her. “I don’t.”
Taking a couple notes, Daniel continued in his distracted tone. “So I’m noticing.”
Vala let out a loud sigh and climbed onto the workbench. She flopped back onto the surface, her feet beating against the side. “Let’s do something, Daniel.”
He did his hardest not to give in to her bored tone. “I’m working, Vala.”
“Please Daniel?” She whined, flipping over and propping her head on her hands.
“Working.” Daniel reiterated the point, writing down a few more notes. When his gaze returned to the book, he found a hand was now covering the majority of it.
“Daniel…” There it was - that tone she used that could melt all of his resolve. Hesitantly, Daniel brought his blue eyes up to look into hers. “Take me to a movie.”
And that was it. Sounded like it was asked, but was really an order that he couldn’t disobey. With a sigh, Daniel moved her hand and flipped the book closed. He dropped the pencil and gave her a look as she bounded off the table and threw her arms around his neck.
“Thank you.” She said simply.
“Yeah…” Daniel answered with a roll of his eyes. Pulling her arms down, he hooked one through his and escorted her out of his office. He made sure to turn the light off and close the door behind them. There would be no more work for him that day - he’d known it the moment she walked in.
She’s: “I can’t find a thing to wear”
Things were up. That was Daniel’s first thought as he entered the room and found every possible surface covered in clothing. Dresses, jeans, shirts of varying types - strewn everywhere and every which way that was imaginable. How one pair of jeans had managed to land in the bathtub in the joining bathroom, he wasn’t really sure.
“Hunny, you okay?” He ventured timidly, taking a dangerous step towards the closest. If it was possible, more clothes were spewing out from the gaping mouth. Daniel didn’t even want to begin to know how she managed to get all of her wardrobe into the tiny space.
“Do I look okay?” Vala snapped back as soon as her eyes landed on him. She swept one empty hand up and down her body, clad only in a black bra, panties, and black open-toed heels.
Daniel stood looking like a guppy, mouth opening and closing for a few moments. He knew whatever he was gonna say would be wrong, so the smart thing to do was probably say nothing. But he wasn’t always in control of his mouth sometimes.
“You look - not ready.”
If looks could kill…
“Of course I’m not ready!” She barked, throwing the handful of clothes on hangars in her right hand directly at him. “I’ll never be ready! I look horrible in everything I wear…” Vala pointed a finger at him as he opened his mouth to protest, the tossed clothes hanging in his hands. “Don’t tell me anything different, or I swear to any god I know I’ll beat you up like I did on that damn ship!”
Dropping the clothes and holding up his hands, Daniel shook his head. This time he had the smarts to not say a word.
Vala’s face fell after a moment and tears welled in her eyes. “I can’t find a thing to wear, Daniel. All those prissy government wives are gonna look fabulous, and I’m gonna look like polished up space trash.”
Seeing his opportunity, Daniel stepped over mounds of clothes to stand before her. Placing gentle hands over her chilled arms, he gave her his sincerest look. “Then we won’t go.”
Obviously that wasn’t what she was expecting. “What?”
“Well, if you can’t find a thing to wear and I can’t convince you that you look a million times better than those old trophy wives…” Daniel smiled his sweetest smile. “Then we won’t bother going.” He brought one of his hands down to fiddle in the side of her panties. “I know, for a fact, that you don’t need any clothes if we’re gonna stay here.”
Even though his words and actions were more than suggestive, Daniel could tell he’d done right by Vala. He could tell in the way her body relaxed beneath his touch and the little breath she let out in relief.
And even when he knew he would catch hell for missing the banquet, Daniel didn’t mind. He would rather take the verbal wrath of a few disgruntled politicians over the wrath of a woman who could kick his ass three ways from Sunday.
Now and then she’s moody
Normally, Vala was the picture of happiness. Always bubbly and friendly, bouncing down the hallways and annoying the crap out of almost everyone. But there were days, every now and then, when she would get in a mood. Those were the days when most people tended to avoid her, or at the least, not upset her.
Daniel wasn’t most people.
The others thought he was crazy for taking her low blows and compromising remarks after he’d not heeded the warnings to stay away. It couldn’t be healthy for the relationship to have one storm off in a fit of anger, and have the other left sitting at the commissary table, blushing with embarrassment of a nasty kind.
But what the others never knew was that her anger only lasted so long. It would quickly drain away, leaving guilt, fear, and grief that Vala never dealt with in its wake.
They never saw her, hours later, standing timidly in his office doorway. They never heard the way she called him, the ‘Daniel’ so delicate and burdened, or his calm ‘yes?’ in response to his name.
They never knew she would walk up to him at his desk, wringing her hands in an endless cycle, and apologize in such a way…
“I’m sorry.” She would whispered, trying to look like it had been all a playful game. But the way her face always crumbled into turmoil would say otherwise.
And they never knew he would stand then, gather her in his arms and let her know he wasn’t gonna let a bad day keep them apart for long.
She never cried, and he never asked her if she wanted to talk about it. Bad days were warranted - even he had them from time to time. People might have thought it safe to avoid her when she was moody, but at the end of the day, only Daniel was the one who was human enough to understand. And only Daniel was the one who curled up with her in bed those nights.
She’s a Saturn with a sunroof with her dark hair a-blowing
“I can’t believe I’m doing this!” Daniel laughed to the wind, pumping the gas of the car a little bit more. He turned the steering wheel at the right moment, causing the super-fast car to take the turn at a heart-racing speed.
In the passenger seat beside him, Vala smiled to the roof. “Yes you can, darling.” She lifted her head up from the back of the seat, her hair whipping around her face. “You’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to get Cameron back for the little prank he pulled with the itching powder.”
Daniel grinned, taking another fast turn and leading the car higher up the mountain road. “Yes, but does taking a joyride in his new Saturn really count as payback?”
“It does when he doesn’t know you’ve taken the car.” She murmured playfully, joining in with him as he laughed again.
Not daring to spare her a glance at the speed he was going, Daniel made his comment anyway. “Of course it helps to have an accomplice to help swipe the keys from his locker.”
Vala leaned her head back against the seat again and smiled. “Who knew my long dormant talents would come in so handy to you?” She reached up and fiddled with the controls to the sunroof.
“Yes, who knew?” Daniel mocked her accent, earning a good punch to his right arm.
“So,” Vala reached into the visor above his head and took out the lone CD case. “Let’s see what our dear Colonel likes to jam to.” Popping the case open, she ‘hmmmm’ed curiously.
Slowing the car down a little, Daniel glanced over as she held it up so he could see. “Bon Jovi, huh?” He snorted a little. “Never pictured Mitchell as a glam rock guy.”
Tilting her head, Vala popped the CD out. “I guess it was all the leather.”
The car swerved a little as Daniel burst out laughing. Once he felt a little under control once more. “Don’t do that while I’m driving.”
“Oh, so save the ‘Cameron is gay’ jokes for the dinner table?” Vala questioned innocently, cranking the volume as the beginning tune for ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ began to come over the speakers.
Daniel threw her a smirk. “You are a bad girl.”
Pulling Cam’s sunglasses out of the center console, Vala slipped them on. “The worst.” She grinned, and then began belting the chorus to the song as it came on.
Caught up in the moment, Daniel couldn’t help himself from joining her. He hit the gas a little harder again, taking the car deeper into the back mountain woods of Cheyenne Mountain.
Hours later, they’d pulled back into the SGC parking area to find Cam leaning angrily against Daniel’s truck.
“Oh, he’s mad!” Vala announced delightfully
Daniel unbuckled his seat belt and looked at her. “Yeah, wait until he finds out the back seat came in very handy.” He gave her a wink and opened his door.
“Yes…” Vala opened her door, but the pair shared a look before climbing out. “Well, ’Lay Your Hands On Me’ is just a…hands on…kind of song.”
She’s a soft place to land
Daniel ached all over. Everything, from his head, to his back, to his knees, was screaming. Muscles burned from overuse and exhaustion weighed him down like a lead balloon. It was all he could do to keep his eyes open as he limped his way from the elevator to his quarters, his boot dangling from near-limp fingers.
Only one thing kept him going, and that was her lying in the comfortable bed. The thought made the throbbing of sore joints, and an ankle that was twice its normal size, a little more bearable. All he had to do was slide the card through the reader, push open the door, undress and crawl in bed.
Each hurdle, each mental push, had been leading up to this moment. Daniel had kept going, under sheer force of will, knowing she would be there to soften the blow when the will gave out and he came crashing down.
The tumble began when he opened the door and stepped in the room, seeing her snuggled up beneath the blanket on the bed. Like a descent in slow motion, Daniel felt the lead loosening as if in freefall. Each piece of clothing he shed thundered hard against the floor, freeing him of unnecessary weight.
He hit a snag at the pants, though. His ankle had swelled just a little bit snugger against the material, making it near impossible to pull the damn pants off without inducing pain. Daniel found he was too exhausted to even attempt to pull them off standing up, so he collapsed to a disorderly sitting heap on the floor.
“Damn it.” He mumbled, hissing at the lightest brushing of material on his tender skin. Maybe Carolyn had been right about the overnight stay in her infirmary. She had said it was just a bit swollen from walking on it too much, but had insisted on a stay nonetheless. Daniel had fought her, of course, and finally she’d caved when he’d gone dirty and used words like ‘Cameron’ and ‘missed him.’
Daniel hissed again as he stood up and overcorrected, putting too much pressure on the sprain.
“Daniel?” Vala’s tired mumble drifted up from the blanket cocoon.
Limping the short distance caused more pain than he would’ve admitted. “Yeah, it’s…” Daniel winced. “Me.”
Vala pushed up in bed and tried to get a glimpse of him in the darkness. “Are you okay?” She questioned with a tone thick with sleep and heavy with concern. “You sound hurt.”
“I am hurt.” He told her, lowering onto the edge of the bed. When Vala moved to sit up even more, his words catching her attention, Daniel placed a hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back down. “My back hurts, my knees hurt, my hands - hell, even my brain feels bruised.”
He maneuvered himself into a laying position, with a few grunts of pain thrown in. “And I did one hell of a number on my ankle.” Daniel confessed, cuddling up to her back. He wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled his nose softly into her neck.
“You should be in the infirmary.” Vala whispered sleepily, the way her body practically melted into his embrace contesting her words.
“I know.” He whispered back, the pull of sleep and the need to just hold her denying any further words from escaping. Daniel had reached the end of his descent, and Vala was the softness that kept him safe after such a fall.
And a good feeling knowing
There was nothing worse than listening to a big-headed politician preach priority after he’d only found out about the program just two weeks before. Sure, Daniel had been through enough of these diatribes over the years - with Kinsey, with Simmons, with all the various delegates from at least a hundred different worlds.
That didn’t make sitting through one any easier. No amount of experience could stem the kind of boredom produced by some aging government type’s monotone voice.
Suppressing yet another yawn as Senator something or other droned on, Daniel continued to doodle on the legal pad in front of him. Just another of Jack’s bad habits he’d picked up over the years. There was a collection of briefing doodles made by all the members of SG-1, some stupid tradition that they had latched onto in the early days. This one was definitely gonna have to go in there.
“Are you listening, Doctor Jackson?” The Senator demanded and all eyes turned on Daniel as he looked up from his artistic masterpiece.
He smiled wanly. “Of course, Senator. You were talking about us playing havoc with the world’s greatest asset and deepest secret…” Daniel had always had the knack of hearing what someone said even when he was distracted. It was what had helped him learn so many languages so easily.
The baited line worked like a charm and the Senator went back to his rant. It would mean another forty-five minutes of mindless preaching, but at least Daniel wasn’t under the microscope. Just to make sure he wasn’t singled out again, he began to nod dramatically at all the right moments. Not enough to draw attention, but enough to show he was paying attention…ish.
Another bad little habit picked up from way too much time with Jack O’Neill.
Daniel was fighting a smile at the thought when something landed in his lap under the briefing table. Using his free hand - for he couldn’t stop the massive doodle mid-mustache on Senator Unimportant - he carefully unwrapped the hidden note and read the elegant writing.
‘The mustache - it’s not big enough.’
Licking his lips, Daniel looked up at the raven haired trouble maker in the seat next to him. Vala seemed transfixed with every word coming from the Senator’s mouth. The doe-eyed expression of hers, of course, was an obvious tell to Daniel that she was just leading the old wannabe on. She’d done it to him enough for him to recognize it.
He stopped his doodling for a moment and scrawled a quick response back.
‘Actually, I was going for more of a poostache.’
As if she’d been watching him the whole time, Vala brought one of her hands down from its place fisted at her cheek and discreetly took the note back. She sat back in her chair and casually opened the note. After a moment, her grey eyes glanced at his masterpiece, and then up at him. She raised her eyebrows in an agreement to his comment, and then returned her attention to the still talking Senator.
Even still, Vala managed to write a comment back.
Daniel nearly laughed at what it said.
‘He does seem like the shit-eating type to me. Perfect ASSessment, darling.’
“Care to share, Dr. Jackson?” The Senator had noticed Daniel looking up from the note in his lap and fighting hard to hide the amusement on his face.
“Oh, no sir…” He pocketed the paper and leaned back in his chair. “Please, continue.” He added in a way that would make Jack O’Neill proud.
The Senator gave him a displeased glare, and then returned to his tirade. When the heat was once again off of him, Daniel spared a glance in Vala’s direction. She was still feigning interest in the pompous jerk, but for a moment she was able to slip her gaze his direction and offer up a subtle wink.
Daniel ducked his head in an attempt to hide his smile. It was hard to, though, when it was such a good feeling knowing that Vala was just there - that he wasn’t alone, even when it came to getting in trouble.
She’s a warm conversation that I wouldn’t miss for nothing.
“Jackson, what the hell are you doing?” Cam muttered from the double bed just two feet from Daniel’s.
Rolling onto his back, Daniel held the cell phone in his hand up and hit his first speed dial. “The same thing I do every night, Pinky…” He smiled at his joke while bringing the phone to his ear.
A groan came from the other bed. “Princess has got you wrapped tighter than…well, than something tight.” The lack of creativity in the Colonel’s words just reminded them both how tired they were. The creak of the bed moving as Cam shifted followed, and then- “And I’m not Pinky.”
“Well, you’re definitely not the Brain.” Daniel quipped around a yawn just as the other end finally picked up.
Her voice was soft and lethargic, but just as beautiful as it had been the night before. “Hello?”
Daniel closed his eyes and tried to picture Vala wrapped up in the comforter on their bed. “Hey, did I wake you?”
“Maybe.” There was that playful inflection to her tone. Damn, he really did miss her.
“I’m sorry… I can let you go if you want.” He said sympathetically, though near praying she would decline the offer.
Vala laughed airily into the phone, causing static in his ear. “Come now, Daniel.” He could hear her shifting in bed and the very faint sign on the bedside lamp switching on. “Why would I ever not want to talk to you?”
Smiling smugly, Daniel tilted his head. “You don’t seem to like it when I’m lecturing you.”
“Yes, well…let’s not dwell on that.” She said in a way that conveyed the smile in her voice over the phone. “So, how goes things with the Washington big heads? Still having a hard time?”
The smile fell a little at the reminder of why they were currently not together. “If I wasn’t, I would be there right now instead of in this room with a cranky Colonel.”
“I heard that.” Cam mumbled from the depths of his pillow.
Daniel turned onto his shoulder, away from the other bed. Vala went on talking, but he didn’t really hear her words. He gazed through the opening in the curtains in front of the sliding glass door. The lights of D.C. shined brightly through the small opening, and just drove home how he wanted to be home even more.
“I miss you.” He blurted, halting her mid-gossip which he wasn’t even listening to in the first place.
“I miss you too, Daniel.” Vala responded after a moment. It was obvious by her tone that she’d been thrown by his admission. “Darling, are you okay?”
Daniel sighed and closed his eyes. “I will be… just talk to me. Hearing you is the one thing I’ve looked forward to all day.”
“Well, that makes me feel kind of special.” She preened for a moment. Then her voice softened. “You really do miss me, huh?”
He nodded into his pillow. “Yes, I really do. I wouldn’t miss these talks with you for anything…” Daniel grabbed his pillow and turned over, chucking it at Cam after the ‘oh god!’ he’d moaned with disgust.
“Do you two need to be separated?” Vala asked with amusement after she heard a thump and Daniel’s shouted ‘hey!’ on the other end of the phone.
“Desperately.” Daniel finally sighed, flopping down into his pillow. It had been returned in much the same manner it had been lost. “But enough about me and Cameron,” He let his voice rise at the name, practically shouting it to the other bed. He saw an absent hand waving in the darkness in response.
“Tell me all about you…please.” Daniel finished, letting his eyes close. Vala happily agreed to the topic, and began telling him all about her adventures back home without him. He didn’t care if it was all about her shopping fiascos or botched nail appointments. Her voice was soothing and calmed him in a way that even the most peaceful sleep couldn’t provide.
Cam would probably bitch at him in the morning for staying up half the night again, talking to his girl. But Daniel didn’t care. He hadn’t been lying when he’d said he wouldn’t miss it for anything.
She’s a fighter when she’s mad.
Daniel knew things were bad for him. He’d learned a lot of the tells for when things weren’t going well within his body. The numb, tingly feeling his fingers were experiencing wasn’t a good thing. The way pain throbbed behind his eyes, and the world seemed to twist and turn even when he was sitting still, told of a concussion. Those were never good. Oh, and he’d been coughing up blood for days.
Of course, interrogation and torture never made for good family fun. He’d known the moment they’d captured him, and dragged him into the cell he now occupied, that things were bad for him.
Daniel laughed deliriously at his train of thought, letting his head drop and his eyes drift shut. The world seemed to fade out of existence for a while after that, and he was lost in a haze of pain and confusion.
A tapping on his cheek brought him back, and he lifted his head. Slowly, Daniel opened his heavy eyelids to take in a sight that really wasn’t all that bad.
“There you are.” She smiled, brushing away the dirt that caked one side of his face. “I was wondering if I’d have to carry you out of here.”
He snorted. “You can’t carry me…too fat.” Were his words slurring? He really couldn’t tell because he was too busy trying to lie down and drift off into the haziness again.
A hand on his other cheek stopped his descent. “You’re not fat, silly.” Her voice was so soft, so welcoming. It made him smile some more. “You are buff and handsome and strong.” She busied herself with trying to get him to his feet. He had to admit it was hard seeing as it didn’t feel like he had any feet at all.
“You’re pretty.” Daniel whispered, now trying to lean in close to her.
“Thank you, darling.” She laughed, slinging his arm over her shoulder. “I’m hoping you’ll remember saying that after the drugs wear off.”
Daniel shook his head, causing them both to stumble as she tried to lead him out of the cell. “Didn’t drug me…” He blinked at the open door. Had that always been that way? He laughed again. “Just hit me… a lot.”
She had maneuvered him out into the hallway, where it seemed more people were waiting. “I can see that.”
Continuing on like she hadn’t spoken, Daniel tried to slide down the wall she had rested him against. “They hit me, and kicked me…did lots of not nice things.” Several pairs of hands pulled him back to a semi-standing position.
Then his arm was slung over another set of shoulders, and he was moving with them. They seemed to be talking to each other, and ignoring him. All their voices were loud in his ears and made his head hurt.
Still, Daniel continued talking. “And they had a woman…” The talking seemed to quiet down a bit at his words now. “She was pretty,” He smiled and pointed at her as they stopped moving. “Like you! She…she was all…hot.”
“Man, they really put you through the wringer…” A familiar southern drawl came from his left and Daniel tried to look that direction. The person the voice belonged to was blurry and swam before him like a mirage.
He began to list to the side. “I don’t know about that…” Daniel whipped his head back around, and stumbled backwards into someone. He wasn’t sure who, but she was standing before him again so it couldn’t have been her. “But I know she…the woman…”
Another smile came to his face, especially when she got closer. “Know she what, Daniel?”
“Kissed me…a lot.” He whispered to her with that smile still on his face.
“Oh she did?” There was an unusual quality to her exotic voice, and it made Daniel frown. His frown deepened as she moved out of his line of sight, and that southern drawl, just at his left ear, called out to her desperately. Then explosions and gun fire started going around him, and the sound alone sent him to his knees.
A strong arm across his chest halted him and pulled him back up. Then he was being dragged along once more. Daniel tried to figure out what was going on - why everyone was shooting all of a sudden. He looked around, trying to figure out where she’d gone.
Then he saw her, like a moment of clarity. “That’s Vala.” He tried to point at the beautiful creature across the room, moving with all the grace of a cat attacking its prey. A lot of prey in this case.
“Yes, it is.” The voice, he suddenly remembered, belonged to Mitchell. It was the strained, sort of pissed off way it’d come off this time that had hit it home. Daniel turned his head to look at him. So he was the one dragging him along.
“What’s she doing?” Daniel asked in confusion, letting Cam shove him down behind a large stone something. It made for a good backrest, he assumed. His unfocused blue gaze looked up at the man now shooting over his backrest.
Mitchell looked down at him for a second. “She’s kickin’ ass.”
Blinking, Daniel looked across at the wall just a few inches from his one outstretched leg. Wow, why had they picked such a tiny space to sit in? “Oh…” He frowned again after a moment, looking back at the Colonel. “Why?”
“I believe it is because the leader of the group who kidnapped you kissed you.” Another familiar rumble of a voice said just to his left. Daniel looked that way and smiled. Teal’c was here too!
Then his words began to set in. “Oh…” And then they really set in through the muddiness of his head. “Oh!” Daniel looked between his two friends, finally feeling like he understood something for the first time in days. “That’s bad.”
Cam laughed. “Yeah, I think the bad guys are finding that out the hard way right now.”
“Bad…really, really bad.” Daniel nodded like he’d never heard Mitchell. Vala didn’t like when someone kissed something that was hers - she got mad when they did. And Vala being mad was a bad thing. And Daniel had thought things had gone bad for him.
And she’s a lover when she’s loving
He barely had the door closed before she was at him, pushing him back against the hard wood material. Hands clutching his neck on both sides, nails digging in, her lips were like an unavoidable flame as they pressed hard to his.
Daniel tried to get a hold of the situation before he lost control completely. “Vala…work.” He mumbled against her, futilely pushing at her with his free hand against her chest.
Her grey eyes were ablaze as she pulled back to stare at him. One of her hands came from the side of his neck to take hold of the files he was holding. The ones he had told her he was bringing home to work on. The ones she now tossed to the floor in an uncaring pile.
“Can wait.” She practically ordered. Her hand once more came up to his neck and pulled his head down to meet her lips in another kiss. Daniel found the last of his resolve flittering to the floor with the papers as Vala dipped her tongue into his mouth. He brought his hands around to grip her ass and hoisted her up. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist.
Daniel bodily pushed himself off the door and carried Vala through the house towards the bedroom, their lips and tongues never letting up. Only when he was at the threshold to the room did he pull back. Hands still cupping his face, Vala kept Daniel’s gaze on hers as he lowered her to a standing position once more.
“You shouldn’t love me like I love you.” She whispered, placing the softest of kisses against his lips.
“Too late.” Daniel whispered back. He reached up and grabbed her hands, pulling them down and holding onto them as he guided her backwards into the bedroom. They kept moving until the back of Vala’s knees connected with the bed and she found herself sitting on the mattress.
Kneeling before her and entwining their fingers, Daniel leaned in and gave Vala his own soft kiss. He felt her smile against him and pulled back so he could see it in full. Sitting before him wasn’t the lustful seductress that had pounced at the door, but the beautiful lover that she’d only shown to one person.
“I love you.” Vala murmured the words so soft that they seemed to brush against him like silk. And Daniel smiled for her like he never smiled for anyone else because she was his one person, just like he was hers.
Comments and feedback are definitely appreciated!