fan fiction: Finding Home Epilogue
Thank you so much if you're still reading! (I started this thing in 2016. It was never supposed to take this long. If you're still here, you deserve all the cookies.) This is the end. Superfluous, probably, but it pleased me to have kind of a "bookend" to the prologue. And since I'm the writer... ;)
Chapter Text
Epilogue
About a year later…
She stared at the laptop screen in fascination. A tricky one. How long had it been since she'd had a tricky one?
"Any luck?" Cameron asked from the lounge chair beside her.
"Not so far. I'm impressed. Someone's very, very good."
"Yeah, well, once in a while you've gotta earn that fancypants office and nice fat paycheck, you know." Cameron cracked open a beer. "You want one, or no since you're still on the clock? I mean, we're at your house, so I'm not gonna tell if you do."
Her house. The words gave Vala pause for a moment. She had a house now. Except for the brief time with Tomin, she hadn't lived in a house since was a little girl.
And she hadn't had family since her mother died. She didn't count Jacek. Or Adria-either Adria. But now her back deck was filled with people who loved her, trusted her, would always be there for her. Cameron had told her not to expect this housewarming to be as good as the last one, but he'd been lying his ass off when he said it. (Of course he'd also told her he wasn't moving her crap again then proceeded to move the majority of it. Carolyn had laughed at him.)
Vala stole a quick sip of his beer. "Give me five minutes. I'm going to figure this out."
"I know you will." He grinned mischievously. "I'll time you."
Oh, it was on. Vala stuck out her tongue at him and returned to her work. What was going on here?
But ten minutes later, she finally had it. She reached for Cameron's beer sitting next to her and drained it. She frowned at him. "What have you been doing all this time? There was more of that left than there should've been."
"Darlin', mine's gone. That was yours. I grabbed it for you five minutes ago, when you were supposed to be done."
"Oh, so you think you could've done it faster?"
"Hell, no. I understand what you do about as much as I understand Sam's research."
She laughed and stood up to stretch. "Which is to say not at all." Her gaze drifted over to the barbecue. Jack was flipping burgers, while Daniel and Bryce appeared to be locked in some sort of heated debate. Heaven only knew what about. After their rocky start, the two of them had discovered they rather enjoyed each other's company.
Well, that wasn't quite true. Really they enjoyed arguing with each other. Their tastes were different when it came to pretty much everything. It amused Vala to no end to hear how passionately they "discussed" various aspects of art, music, and literature. She wondered what they might be going on about now. Whatever it was, Jack seemed entertained. He was probably playing devil's advocate just to egg them on.
Much like she'd be doing if she were over there. And if she and Jack joined forces and egged them on together? Well, it didn't get much better than that. It was time she joined them.
"Hey, babe." Daniel's arm slid around her as she kissed his lips and Bryce and Jack's cheeks. "Finally get it?"
"'Finally,'" she huffed. "Honestly, you're as bad as Cameron. None of you would have solved it any quicker-or even at all."
"Ungrateful lot, all of them," Bryce said. "You should ditch 'em and come back to New York with me. I appreciate you."
"Thank you, love. But I don't think this sad bunch could cope without me, do you?"
"I watched Danny try," Jack said. "It wasn't pretty, believe me. You shouldn't do that to him again."
"Very funny. Like you'd be any better if it were Sam."
"Carter's gone most of the time on the Hammond," Jack pointed out. "New York's a hell of a lot closer than…" He glanced at Bryce and amended his words. "...than where the Hammond is usually deployed."
Bryce rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. Like I'm going to tell anyone the location of your super-secret ship or sub or whatever."
An awkward silence descended. Vala couldn't believe that she was still having to keep this stuff from Bryce. She had half a mind just to blurt something out and deal with the consequences. Better to ask forgiveness than permission and all that.
Daniel apparently could see it on her face and shot her a warning look, which just made her want to do it all the more. Didn't he know that by now?
And then it dawned on her. He did know it. They'd even discussed it recently, in fact. He was very much aware that when he tried to rein her in like some kind of damn child, it raised her hackles and made her more likely to do whatever it was. Maybe it was immature of her, but whatever.
The point was Daniel knew it. So right now something else had to be going on.
Was he actually giving her permission to clue Bryce in but doing so in a way that maintained plausible deniability for all of them?
She sneaked a glance to Jack. Yes, he was in on it too. It was all a beautiful setup, orchestrated just for her.
She couldn't love any of them more if she tried.
"He's got a point," she said, casually. "Who's he going to tell?"
"Vala…" Daniel spoke with just the right level of warning growl. Man, he was good. No one could ever claim he hadn't tried to stop her.
Vala pinned her biggest, toothiest grin on her face and leaned toward Bryce, ignoring Daniel's weak attempt to hold her back. "You wouldn't want to tell anyone where the Hammond was anyway-they'd all think you were wonko. Because the truth is…"
The truth was Vala had a home now, and family enough to fill it. A huge, mixed-up, dysfunctional family to be sure, but they were all hers, and no one was going to take that from her again.
There really was no place like home.
END
Chapter Text
Epilogue
About a year later…
She stared at the laptop screen in fascination. A tricky one. How long had it been since she'd had a tricky one?
"Any luck?" Cameron asked from the lounge chair beside her.
"Not so far. I'm impressed. Someone's very, very good."
"Yeah, well, once in a while you've gotta earn that fancypants office and nice fat paycheck, you know." Cameron cracked open a beer. "You want one, or no since you're still on the clock? I mean, we're at your house, so I'm not gonna tell if you do."
Her house. The words gave Vala pause for a moment. She had a house now. Except for the brief time with Tomin, she hadn't lived in a house since was a little girl.
And she hadn't had family since her mother died. She didn't count Jacek. Or Adria-either Adria. But now her back deck was filled with people who loved her, trusted her, would always be there for her. Cameron had told her not to expect this housewarming to be as good as the last one, but he'd been lying his ass off when he said it. (Of course he'd also told her he wasn't moving her crap again then proceeded to move the majority of it. Carolyn had laughed at him.)
Vala stole a quick sip of his beer. "Give me five minutes. I'm going to figure this out."
"I know you will." He grinned mischievously. "I'll time you."
Oh, it was on. Vala stuck out her tongue at him and returned to her work. What was going on here?
But ten minutes later, she finally had it. She reached for Cameron's beer sitting next to her and drained it. She frowned at him. "What have you been doing all this time? There was more of that left than there should've been."
"Darlin', mine's gone. That was yours. I grabbed it for you five minutes ago, when you were supposed to be done."
"Oh, so you think you could've done it faster?"
"Hell, no. I understand what you do about as much as I understand Sam's research."
She laughed and stood up to stretch. "Which is to say not at all." Her gaze drifted over to the barbecue. Jack was flipping burgers, while Daniel and Bryce appeared to be locked in some sort of heated debate. Heaven only knew what about. After their rocky start, the two of them had discovered they rather enjoyed each other's company.
Well, that wasn't quite true. Really they enjoyed arguing with each other. Their tastes were different when it came to pretty much everything. It amused Vala to no end to hear how passionately they "discussed" various aspects of art, music, and literature. She wondered what they might be going on about now. Whatever it was, Jack seemed entertained. He was probably playing devil's advocate just to egg them on.
Much like she'd be doing if she were over there. And if she and Jack joined forces and egged them on together? Well, it didn't get much better than that. It was time she joined them.
"Hey, babe." Daniel's arm slid around her as she kissed his lips and Bryce and Jack's cheeks. "Finally get it?"
"'Finally,'" she huffed. "Honestly, you're as bad as Cameron. None of you would have solved it any quicker-or even at all."
"Ungrateful lot, all of them," Bryce said. "You should ditch 'em and come back to New York with me. I appreciate you."
"Thank you, love. But I don't think this sad bunch could cope without me, do you?"
"I watched Danny try," Jack said. "It wasn't pretty, believe me. You shouldn't do that to him again."
"Very funny. Like you'd be any better if it were Sam."
"Carter's gone most of the time on the Hammond," Jack pointed out. "New York's a hell of a lot closer than…" He glanced at Bryce and amended his words. "...than where the Hammond is usually deployed."
Bryce rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. Like I'm going to tell anyone the location of your super-secret ship or sub or whatever."
An awkward silence descended. Vala couldn't believe that she was still having to keep this stuff from Bryce. She had half a mind just to blurt something out and deal with the consequences. Better to ask forgiveness than permission and all that.
Daniel apparently could see it on her face and shot her a warning look, which just made her want to do it all the more. Didn't he know that by now?
And then it dawned on her. He did know it. They'd even discussed it recently, in fact. He was very much aware that when he tried to rein her in like some kind of damn child, it raised her hackles and made her more likely to do whatever it was. Maybe it was immature of her, but whatever.
The point was Daniel knew it. So right now something else had to be going on.
Was he actually giving her permission to clue Bryce in but doing so in a way that maintained plausible deniability for all of them?
She sneaked a glance to Jack. Yes, he was in on it too. It was all a beautiful setup, orchestrated just for her.
She couldn't love any of them more if she tried.
"He's got a point," she said, casually. "Who's he going to tell?"
"Vala…" Daniel spoke with just the right level of warning growl. Man, he was good. No one could ever claim he hadn't tried to stop her.
Vala pinned her biggest, toothiest grin on her face and leaned toward Bryce, ignoring Daniel's weak attempt to hold her back. "You wouldn't want to tell anyone where the Hammond was anyway-they'd all think you were wonko. Because the truth is…"
The truth was Vala had a home now, and family enough to fill it. A huge, mixed-up, dysfunctional family to be sure, but they were all hers, and no one was going to take that from her again.
There really was no place like home.
END