BOtR, Ch.5 : Revelations
Beginning of the Rest
Chapter 5 (Revelations)
Revelations
The instant his blue eyes scanned the people gathered around the briefing room table, his heart skipped a beat.
"No." Daniel murmured, almost silently. He wasn't here...How could he NOT be here? "Where the hell is Jack?"
He knew he shouldn't be getting angry. Jack had no idea why Daniel had asked them all to the briefing room. But that didn't matter. The fact that he had asked meant Jack should be sitting there now. He wasn't, and that was making Daniel mad.
How could his best friend not be here when he was about to announce only the most important thing of his life since the birth of his daughter?
"Don't worry, Daniel." Sam answered calmly, placing her hands flat on the table as she stood. "He'll be here soon."
Daniel fixed her with an impatient glare. "Soon isn't good enough. He should be here now."
"Jack's just running a little late." Sam replied, effectively ignoring Daniel's snippy attitude. It was an art well perfected over the past several years of being his surrogate sister. "He said to just start without him."
She was surprised to see his anger fizzle out into an almost panicked expression. Sam glanced at Vala for some kind of explanation. Her friend just shrugged helplessly.
"No...no." Daniel shook his head. He quickly lowered Hayden to the floor, realizing how heavy she had suddenly become in his grasp. "We can't just start without him." He looked up to Vala for reassurance, agreement, something. She reached out and squeezed his arm. It did nothing to lessen the unease.
"How can he think..." Shaking his head again, Daniel began to back out of the room. "No. Just no." He was going to hunt the man down and drag him back by gun point if he had to. There was no chance in hell him and Vala were going to announce their engagement without Jack there. Jack would kill him, no matter what he'd told Sam. Start without him? Yeah right. Over my dead body, Daniel thought as he continued to back out of the room.
He turned around at the doorway just in time to collide with-
"Easy, big fella." Jack laughed, placing a hand against Daniel's chest. "Why the huge rush to leave?"
An excited little girl squeal came from somewhere behind Daniel. "Jack!" Hayden shrieked happily. The only thing that kept her from running up to him was Vala snatching her up in her arms. The girl did not like this very much, and made that fact known.
Ignoring the fuss behind him, Daniel breathed a gigantic sigh of relief. "You're here."
Jack fixed him with a curious glance. "Of course I'm here. You asked me to be."
"And you're late." Daniel stated, annoyance creeping into his voice. He let Jack wrap an arm around his shoulders, leading him back into the open area of the room.
"And you were planning to what? Hunt me down and drag me back by gun point if you had to?" Jack replied back nonchalantly. Daniel didn't even bother being surprised by the mind melding. He never really had been from the beginning. It was something that just felt right, though they had never admitted it to each other. Not that they really needed to, considering.
He just snapped back in a playful grumble. "The thought had crossed my mind."
Jack laughed. "You do know I was Black Ops trained, right?"
"And you do know I was trained by the Black Ops trained?" Daniel questioned back innocently, a smug smile barely gracing his lips.
Before Jack could get in another quip, Vala stepped up between them. Hayden was clasped in her arms, now having been calmed down by threats of punishment from Vala, was smiling at their exchange. Her mother didn't seem so amused.
"As adorably annoying as you two are..." She was using the tone she had immediately inherited upon becoming a mother. Her grey eyes moved from brown to blue, where she fixed him with an almost urgent glare. If they didn't get this show on the road soon, she wasn't gonna wait for him.
Daniel nodded. "Right." He shrugged towards Jack. "Can't just stand around bullshitting all day."
Jack looked at Daniel as Vala practically dumped Hayden into his arms. "Why not?" He quickly adjusted the girl in his arms. It was sometimes a little unnerving how quickly he'd fallen back into the natural grace of father-like mannerisms after she was born. Jack pushed past Daniel and moved to take a seat at the table. "We do it all the time."
"Yeah..." Turning, Daniel laughed gently. "That was before I had a-" A strong shove to his shoulder had him clamming up immediately. He'd almost accidentally let the cat out of the bag right there. Trust Jack to pull something out of him, no matter how inadvertently. He turned apologetic blues eyes on Vala, and shrugged. She was shaking her head, but smiling as well.
"A what?" Jack questioned, his curiosity definitely peaked. Hayden giggled into her arm, and he fixed her with a mock stern glare. "You know what all this stuff is about, munchkin?"
Hayden tried suppressing her laughter, and shook her head quickly. "No." She squeaked. The whole group looked at her and she started laughing again. It was the only thing keeping her from telling the secret that wasn't hers.
"Oh, that's a convincing act." Mitchell laughed, looking up at the couple now standing at the foot of the table. "Jackson, you need to teach this one better techniques for concealing information."
Daniel wrapped his arms around Vala's waist. "I'll be sure to remember that in her next training scenario." He sighed sarcastically. His gaze then shifted to Hayden's, and he gave her a silent command to quiet down. One she understood immediately. Her giggles all but stopped.
"Okay..." He sighed, suddenly feeling nervous. "Wow, now that we've finally gotten to this part, it's suddenly become hard." Daniel nuzzled into Vala's neck. "Maybe you should start it off..."
Vala laughed, also feeling slightly nervous. She felt that now, getting ready to announce their engagement to all the people they cared deepest about would jinx the whole thing. She knew that's exactly what Daniel was feeling as well. The whole 'haven't had much luck in the past' thing he'd mentioned the night before came rushing back in that instant. "Uhh..."
"Now I know where Hayds gets that whole convincing thing from..." Cam stated. "You guys aren't actually building this up to be a...'happy' announcement."
"No shit..." Jack breathed. He fixed Daniel with a concerned glance, even as his next words were playful. "Neither of you are dying, right? Because if you are, I'll kill you." He swiveled his chair around, and looked at Carolyn sitting just beside Cameron. "They're not dying, are they?"
She offered a reassuring smile. "Not that I'm aware of. As of last week's post mission physicals, both were in perfect health." Carolyn sat forward a little. "This time, I'm not the one in on the secret." She whispered, fixing a mischievous gaze on Hayden.
Once more all eyes turned to the little girl. Jack tickled her some, and she started laughing again.
"Spill those secrets, girl." Cameron reached out a hand, and started tickling as well. Hayden remained strong, however.
"I can't!" She breathed between giggles. "I've been sworn to secrecy!"
Jack's eyebrows rose. "Oh really?" He swiveled the chair back around to face her parents. "What kind of secrecy may that be?"
Hayden shared a smile with Daniel, who winked back. "The classified kind."
"Hmmmm..." Jack considered her words dramatically. His brown eyes moved up to glance into his younger friends. "Daniel? Care to share the nature of this classified secret, that better not be death or you will surely...well, die." He shrugged.
Daniel laughed. "It's not death, Jack."
"Though it's likely to kill us before the end." Vala added with her own laugh. She was rewarded with a nervous kiss to her temple. She turned slightly in Daniel's grasp, and fixed him with a curious smile. "Maybe we should just do it?"
Considering, Daniel tilted his head. "Just do it? I guess that could work. I mean, it's simple." He frowned dramatically. "Ofcourse, simple isn't really like us. Just take into fact how we had our first child...that was far from simple-"
Sam jumped up from her seat. "Come on guys! You're killing us here!"
"Indeed." Teal'c finally spoke, a gentle smile of anticipation on his face.
Vala smiled up at Daniel, and he leaned down to place a soft kiss to her lips. He slowly released her hand, which up until that moment had been strategically concealed since they'd arrived on base. Turning their attention back to the group, both smiled radiantly as Vala held out her hand. The ring sparkled in the harsh, underground light.
The tabled burst into a cacophony of various words. An excited 'My God' from Carolyn, 'Bout damn time' from Cam, 'Holy Hannah' from Sam, and the loudest of all was the happy, excited shouting laugh of 'FINALLY!' from Jack. There was a smug, knowing grin on Teal'c's face.
Just before they were enveloped in all the happy questions of 'how did he do it?' and the like, Daniel placed a loving kiss to Vala's neck, and they shared an equal look of contentment and sudden revelation. At that moment they both knew...
Screw the luck of the past. This was now, and they didn't need luck. They had their family, their daughter, and most of all each other. They had love, pure and simple.
And that was enough to make it through...
"If we survive the wedding." Daniel murmured seconds before Sam and Carolyn dragged Vala out of his grasp for need to know details and already forming wedding ideas. She smiled back at him, and nodded.
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Chapter 5 (Revelations)
Revelations
The instant his blue eyes scanned the people gathered around the briefing room table, his heart skipped a beat.
"No." Daniel murmured, almost silently. He wasn't here...How could he NOT be here? "Where the hell is Jack?"
He knew he shouldn't be getting angry. Jack had no idea why Daniel had asked them all to the briefing room. But that didn't matter. The fact that he had asked meant Jack should be sitting there now. He wasn't, and that was making Daniel mad.
How could his best friend not be here when he was about to announce only the most important thing of his life since the birth of his daughter?
"Don't worry, Daniel." Sam answered calmly, placing her hands flat on the table as she stood. "He'll be here soon."
Daniel fixed her with an impatient glare. "Soon isn't good enough. He should be here now."
"Jack's just running a little late." Sam replied, effectively ignoring Daniel's snippy attitude. It was an art well perfected over the past several years of being his surrogate sister. "He said to just start without him."
She was surprised to see his anger fizzle out into an almost panicked expression. Sam glanced at Vala for some kind of explanation. Her friend just shrugged helplessly.
"No...no." Daniel shook his head. He quickly lowered Hayden to the floor, realizing how heavy she had suddenly become in his grasp. "We can't just start without him." He looked up to Vala for reassurance, agreement, something. She reached out and squeezed his arm. It did nothing to lessen the unease.
"How can he think..." Shaking his head again, Daniel began to back out of the room. "No. Just no." He was going to hunt the man down and drag him back by gun point if he had to. There was no chance in hell him and Vala were going to announce their engagement without Jack there. Jack would kill him, no matter what he'd told Sam. Start without him? Yeah right. Over my dead body, Daniel thought as he continued to back out of the room.
He turned around at the doorway just in time to collide with-
"Easy, big fella." Jack laughed, placing a hand against Daniel's chest. "Why the huge rush to leave?"
An excited little girl squeal came from somewhere behind Daniel. "Jack!" Hayden shrieked happily. The only thing that kept her from running up to him was Vala snatching her up in her arms. The girl did not like this very much, and made that fact known.
Ignoring the fuss behind him, Daniel breathed a gigantic sigh of relief. "You're here."
Jack fixed him with a curious glance. "Of course I'm here. You asked me to be."
"And you're late." Daniel stated, annoyance creeping into his voice. He let Jack wrap an arm around his shoulders, leading him back into the open area of the room.
"And you were planning to what? Hunt me down and drag me back by gun point if you had to?" Jack replied back nonchalantly. Daniel didn't even bother being surprised by the mind melding. He never really had been from the beginning. It was something that just felt right, though they had never admitted it to each other. Not that they really needed to, considering.
He just snapped back in a playful grumble. "The thought had crossed my mind."
Jack laughed. "You do know I was Black Ops trained, right?"
"And you do know I was trained by the Black Ops trained?" Daniel questioned back innocently, a smug smile barely gracing his lips.
Before Jack could get in another quip, Vala stepped up between them. Hayden was clasped in her arms, now having been calmed down by threats of punishment from Vala, was smiling at their exchange. Her mother didn't seem so amused.
"As adorably annoying as you two are..." She was using the tone she had immediately inherited upon becoming a mother. Her grey eyes moved from brown to blue, where she fixed him with an almost urgent glare. If they didn't get this show on the road soon, she wasn't gonna wait for him.
Daniel nodded. "Right." He shrugged towards Jack. "Can't just stand around bullshitting all day."
Jack looked at Daniel as Vala practically dumped Hayden into his arms. "Why not?" He quickly adjusted the girl in his arms. It was sometimes a little unnerving how quickly he'd fallen back into the natural grace of father-like mannerisms after she was born. Jack pushed past Daniel and moved to take a seat at the table. "We do it all the time."
"Yeah..." Turning, Daniel laughed gently. "That was before I had a-" A strong shove to his shoulder had him clamming up immediately. He'd almost accidentally let the cat out of the bag right there. Trust Jack to pull something out of him, no matter how inadvertently. He turned apologetic blues eyes on Vala, and shrugged. She was shaking her head, but smiling as well.
"A what?" Jack questioned, his curiosity definitely peaked. Hayden giggled into her arm, and he fixed her with a mock stern glare. "You know what all this stuff is about, munchkin?"
Hayden tried suppressing her laughter, and shook her head quickly. "No." She squeaked. The whole group looked at her and she started laughing again. It was the only thing keeping her from telling the secret that wasn't hers.
"Oh, that's a convincing act." Mitchell laughed, looking up at the couple now standing at the foot of the table. "Jackson, you need to teach this one better techniques for concealing information."
Daniel wrapped his arms around Vala's waist. "I'll be sure to remember that in her next training scenario." He sighed sarcastically. His gaze then shifted to Hayden's, and he gave her a silent command to quiet down. One she understood immediately. Her giggles all but stopped.
"Okay..." He sighed, suddenly feeling nervous. "Wow, now that we've finally gotten to this part, it's suddenly become hard." Daniel nuzzled into Vala's neck. "Maybe you should start it off..."
Vala laughed, also feeling slightly nervous. She felt that now, getting ready to announce their engagement to all the people they cared deepest about would jinx the whole thing. She knew that's exactly what Daniel was feeling as well. The whole 'haven't had much luck in the past' thing he'd mentioned the night before came rushing back in that instant. "Uhh..."
"Now I know where Hayds gets that whole convincing thing from..." Cam stated. "You guys aren't actually building this up to be a...'happy' announcement."
"No shit..." Jack breathed. He fixed Daniel with a concerned glance, even as his next words were playful. "Neither of you are dying, right? Because if you are, I'll kill you." He swiveled his chair around, and looked at Carolyn sitting just beside Cameron. "They're not dying, are they?"
She offered a reassuring smile. "Not that I'm aware of. As of last week's post mission physicals, both were in perfect health." Carolyn sat forward a little. "This time, I'm not the one in on the secret." She whispered, fixing a mischievous gaze on Hayden.
Once more all eyes turned to the little girl. Jack tickled her some, and she started laughing again.
"Spill those secrets, girl." Cameron reached out a hand, and started tickling as well. Hayden remained strong, however.
"I can't!" She breathed between giggles. "I've been sworn to secrecy!"
Jack's eyebrows rose. "Oh really?" He swiveled the chair back around to face her parents. "What kind of secrecy may that be?"
Hayden shared a smile with Daniel, who winked back. "The classified kind."
"Hmmmm..." Jack considered her words dramatically. His brown eyes moved up to glance into his younger friends. "Daniel? Care to share the nature of this classified secret, that better not be death or you will surely...well, die." He shrugged.
Daniel laughed. "It's not death, Jack."
"Though it's likely to kill us before the end." Vala added with her own laugh. She was rewarded with a nervous kiss to her temple. She turned slightly in Daniel's grasp, and fixed him with a curious smile. "Maybe we should just do it?"
Considering, Daniel tilted his head. "Just do it? I guess that could work. I mean, it's simple." He frowned dramatically. "Ofcourse, simple isn't really like us. Just take into fact how we had our first child...that was far from simple-"
Sam jumped up from her seat. "Come on guys! You're killing us here!"
"Indeed." Teal'c finally spoke, a gentle smile of anticipation on his face.
Vala smiled up at Daniel, and he leaned down to place a soft kiss to her lips. He slowly released her hand, which up until that moment had been strategically concealed since they'd arrived on base. Turning their attention back to the group, both smiled radiantly as Vala held out her hand. The ring sparkled in the harsh, underground light.
The tabled burst into a cacophony of various words. An excited 'My God' from Carolyn, 'Bout damn time' from Cam, 'Holy Hannah' from Sam, and the loudest of all was the happy, excited shouting laugh of 'FINALLY!' from Jack. There was a smug, knowing grin on Teal'c's face.
Just before they were enveloped in all the happy questions of 'how did he do it?' and the like, Daniel placed a loving kiss to Vala's neck, and they shared an equal look of contentment and sudden revelation. At that moment they both knew...
Screw the luck of the past. This was now, and they didn't need luck. They had their family, their daughter, and most of all each other. They had love, pure and simple.
And that was enough to make it through...
"If we survive the wedding." Daniel murmured seconds before Sam and Carolyn dragged Vala out of his grasp for need to know details and already forming wedding ideas. She smiled back at him, and nodded.
Reviews and comments are definitely LVOE!