"Our Lives As Happenstance" - Chapter 7
Title: Our Lives As Happenstance
Author: Milena D.
Rating: T (PG-13) for now
Genre: Action/Angst/Romance
Pairings: Daniel/Vala, some Cam/Sam can be seen as shippy
SPOILERS: HUGE SPOILERS FOR CONTINUUM.
Summary: A divergence in the lives of our team from one of the last scenes of the movie causes their future to change radically and permanently. Daniel/Vala and HUGE spoilers for CONTINUUM.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Stargate Continuum, the Stargate Series, any of the characters, I don’t even own the premise which is the plot from the movie. Basically I own nothing and am making no money so please don’t sue.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6
Author’s Note #1: Hello to those who haven’t fallen out of their chairs at the sight of a new SG-1 fic chapter from me....aaand now hello to those who’ve recovered and joined us. Here’s what’s up: anyone who reads this who writes fics will likely know how much of a jerk one can feel when they leave their readers waiting on fics like I have for...let’s just say a VERY long time. I apologize from the bottom of my heart. What I didn’t want to do is post another chapter and then make you wait another year for the next when I hit a wall (and it’s a damn good thing I did because I wrote this months ago and never touched the fic again till recently.)
SO, this fic is actually completed. Including this chapter, there are 3 left until the end. They have been written out completely and will be posted within 3-4 days of each other so there will no longer be the frustrating wait. The other fics I have will be done in much the same way (working on A Gift From Above now!). Anyway, I’m incredibly sorry for the wait. I hope most of you will still like/read this and I hope it’s a least very partially worth sticking with.
Author's Note #2: Had no beta so I'm really sorry about any typos! Also...these chapters are a little longer than the rest, hope you don't mind. ;)
With no further ado...
Author's Note #3: Special thanks to natalia5345 for her tireless encouragements and to campylobacter for the great nudge back to writing and the great suggestions on how to continue! Couldn't have done it without you guys! ^_^
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Chapter 7: Good Morning, Sunshine
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For the past two days, she’d had been shut away in her dark room, not so much fearing the outside world as trying to escape it. She had too much going on in her own head to deal with external problems. She would always remember the gruesome pain of the extraction process. To go from years without any sensation whatsoever to awakening through the worst pain she’d ever know...she wished she could forget. Thankfully, once they’d taken her out of the restraints, one of them had healed her with a healing device. Then, she wished they hadn’t. Her pain-free mind had been blessed with a few disorienting minutes of emptiness before being assaulted with floods of memories, some her own, most Qetesh’s and none of those pleasant.
Time hadn’t really meant much to her as she lie in the bed she’d been given. They had known without asking that she would prefer the lights be turned off, the brightness hurting her newly awakened senses, and she fleetingly wondered how many broken people had lain where she lay now. She reached a silent hysteria as she saw herself as nothing but a link in a chain of mass “freed host” production. The insanity faded though. Not quickly, not easily, but it was assuaged and she was left shivering at the prospect of living. She’d been dead inside her own body for so many years, what was she to do now?
She had been Vala Mal Doran before being taken, she knew that, but she didn’t feel like her anymore. Her life before Qetesh was like a protected bubble in her mind, untouchable. She could see it but she couldn’t feel it. Now, without a past, and back from the abyss of nothingness, she could hardly understand the prospect of a future. She had lost her hopes, her dreams, her goals, her family, her friends...
Someone had interrupted her private sanctum of darkness, had let the outside world pierce through her hiding place both literally and figuratively. He’d made enough noise to alert her but the bright lights of the hallway splashed against her wall were enough to let her know she had been found out. She had remained still, her wide eyes fixed on the wall in front of her, unheeding of whatever the person wanted. The sound of his voice as he spoke quietly to her was both soothing and frightening. It was the first sound she had heard in days once the hustle and bustle of the Tok’ra had left her in peace. She hadn’t been lucid enough to appreciate their noises then but this one she committed to memory. She absorbed his words intently, not bothering with understanding their meaning for the moment, just taking in his every sentence. It was only several minutes after he’d gone quiet that she started processing his message and realized he intended to stay. She had a sudden urge to see her stranger but after days without sleep, she lacked the energy, so she let her head fall back to her pillow to decode the rest of his statements.
She awoke the next morning, startled with the sensation of simply rousing from sleep. It was nothing like the painful jerk out of limbo that was extraction, it was a peaceful and gradual return to her senses, and she took the time to simply revel in it. She was surprised she’d slept at all, not remembering being tired. But then she recalled her stranger and the one word from his speech that she’d taken to heart. Vala. He had called her Vala. He’d given her back the simple joy of having an identity, whatever shape it might take.
Vala turned slowly in her bed, the perpetual darkness of the room giving her the time to focus on the tactile sensations of her body moving according to her own will. She lie on her back and turned her face to the side, seeing that her stranger had made good on his request to stay and had fallen asleep in the chair by her bed. In the silence of the room, however, her subtle movements had made enough of a disturbance to wake him and she saw him lift his cheek from his hand and blink owlishly a few times.
She wondered why he didn’t greet her, he was looking at her but saying nothing. She could clearly see him frown by the glow of the Tok’ra emitter before he started searching for something. Spotting his prize, he lifted a pair of glasses from his lap and placed them on his nose, frowning again, no doubt, as his eyesight got better. Then he gave a start as he realized she was awake and staring at him. He didn’t look away though, and a sheepish smile took shape over his lips.
“Um...morning.” He said, his voice as soft and soothing as it had been yesterday. “I uh...I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean to stay the night. I mean, you must want some privacy at some point, I just - I fell asleep.”
His stuttering and and his flustered appearance tugged at her mouth but it wasn’t quite ready to smile yet. Instead, she focused and lifted herself slowly into a sitting position on the bed to bring them roughly to the same height. The man looked fleetingly toward the door but made no move to leave. He simply shifted in his chair to get more comfortable.
“How are you feeling?” He asked warmly. It was then she realized that he wasn’t a Tok’ra, nor a Jaffa. He was dressed strangely and spoke with a different accent than she was used to.
“Who are you?” She whispered, her voice sounding rough and raspy even to her own ears.
The man looked slightly taken aback, obviously he hadn’t really expected her to speak. His face softened though and he smiled again.
“I guess you really were sleeping yesterday.” He grinned, looking like he felt foolish.
“I wasn’t.” She replied, her voice cracking from disuse. “I just...I couldn’t...” She broke up, her hand gesturing to her head trying to convey how she hadn’t been completely there. He seemed to understand as he nodded sympathetically. Before he could introduce himself again, her throat tickled from speaking and she raised her hand to her neck uncomfortably.
“Oh, hey, how about I, um, get you some water?” He asked, standing up, seemingly eager to be of use. For a moment she wanted to say no, she didn’t want him to leave, but her throat demanded reprieve so she nodded again. To her surprise, he didn’t leave the room but rather crossed over to the other side.
“Do you mind if I turn the lights on just a little?” He called to her, the glow of the Tok’ra emitter didn’t reach that side of the room.
“Sure.” She replied, the tickle turning into a cough at the tail-end of her word.
“Okay, cover your eyes for a minute.” He asked her, groping the wall to find the light mechanism. A moment later, she could see a faint orange glow between the closed fingers over her eyes and as she let herself look at it, she found that it didn’t give her a headache as it would have days ago. Slowly, and squinting heavily, she took her hand away from her face and looked at the room revealed to her.
There wasn’t much on her side other than her bed and the chair near it. The man’s side was furnished with a dresser and apparently a bathroom. She could see him at the sink, his back turned to her but his face visible from the angle of the mirror. He looked to be in his mid-thirties at least, his light brown hair was cut short and his face was handsome but unremarkable. His eyes, however, were a startling clear blue that was obvious even at this distance. They shifted slightly to the left in the mirror and locked with hers as he filled the glass from the tap.
As he came back out of the bathroom, his hand reached for the light switch but she stopped him.
“You can leave it.” She said, coughing again. He nodded and quickly crossed the floor to give her the cup before retaking his place in the chair. The cool liquid caressed her throat and she relished the feeling. She hadn’t eaten or drunk anything since the extraction and only now was she starting to realize that the pit in her stomach might not be emotionally-related. She didn’t have much time to dwell on it since the man leaned forward in the chair, his elbows on his knees, looking at her with more kindness than she was used to.
“My name is Daniel Jackson.” He said simply, as if unsure about going on with the speech he made last night.
“Right. Daniel.” Vala echoed. She hadn’t completely forgotten what he’d said, she just hadn’t...absorbed it all. “Nice to meet you.” Daniel smiled at the weirdness of the situation. Vala tried to reciprocate but all she could manage was a slight quirking of the corners of her lips.
“How...how do you know me again?” Vala asked him, feeling a jab in her heart as the light visibly dimmed in his eyes. “I just- my memories aren’t exactly...well structure at the moment.”
“No, no,” Daniel assuaged her concern, stretching out a hand to stop her uncertainty, “we’ve never actually met...this time.”
Vala’s brow furrowed as she tried to recall what he’d said yesterday.
“Something...about an alternate timeline?” She asked timidly, setting her empty glass on the floor.
“Exactly,” he confirmed, “I’m, well my friends and I, we’re from a different timeline.”
“One where we knew each other.” Vala concluded, trying not to feel jealous of her alternate self when his eyes softened in memory of her.
“Yes, we were pretty close.” He told her before realizing it. “We all - we were all...close.”
Vala’s gaze was analytical but she let it go.
“And you brought me here, to get her - to fre -” She stumbled over her words, her mind refusing to say them aloud.
“Yeah, well...yeah.” Daniel intervened. He was going to expand the story but including Qetesh into their conversation wasn’t something either of them wanted. Vala nodded absentmindedly before looking into his blue eyes again.
“Thank you.” She said sincerely, adding a shrug to try to dispel to overwhelmingly solemn air that had descended upon them.
“Anytime.” He replied with a lopsided grin. This time, Vala was able to produce a small smile in return. A somewhat awkward silence fell over them and Daniel picked up her glass from the floor and went to get her a refill to break it. While he let the water run a bit to get colder, her heard Vala from her bedroom.
“Daniel?” She called him. He caught her eyes again in the mirror as he slipped the glass under the cool stream. Vala’s eyes dipped low and her confidence seemed to evaporate as he looked on. “What now?” She asked softly. Daniel let his eyes move back to his own in the mirror and mentally asked himself the same question.
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“Sleep well?” Cam asked Sam as she plopped into the chair across from him and Teal’c at the table of their alcove for breakfast.
“Well but not long.” She said, blowing a large sigh as she reached for the juice.
“Trouble getting to sleep?” He asked as he spread some kind of fruity jam on his bread.
“No, Martouf just kept going on and on.” She said, trying to stifle a yawn before noticing the look the guys were sending her. “Not like that.” She rolled her eyes and filled her plate with fruits. “Jolinar didn’t find a host in time in this timeline, she never made it back to the Tok’ra.” Sam told them. “Martouf wanted to know, well, pretty much everything I did.”
“Ah, guess it would have been kind of cruel to make him wait.” Cam replied, sympathizing with the Tok’ra. Sam shrugged.
“I agreed to meet with him later to tell him what we didn’t get to yesterday but I’m drawing the line at memory recall devices.” She told them.
“What about you, big guy? Got any plans?” Cam asked the silent Teal’c. Sam recognized his behaviour from three years ago when he’d been trying to get everyone involved and excited about regrouping.
“I do not.” He replied simply.
“Well how about you and me find a training room and see how I measure up to you in this timeline?” Cam offered with a competitive grin. Teal’c considered the proposition and finally accepted.
“Anyone know when Jackson’s gonna join us?” Cam asked the table.
“I don’t know.” Sam replied. “I was up late in here with Martouf and I didn’t see him leave Vala’s room. I don’t even know where his room is.”
“Dr. Jackson did not sleep in his room last night.” Anise told them, her metallic voice making them all tense a moment as she stepped into the alcove.
“And you know that how?” Cam asked her, keeping his tone light.
“I have just come from his quarters, there is no sign anyone has been in them.” She informed them, understanding by their looks that they wanted more information. “I was going to invite him to break his fast with me. It would give me the opportunity to learn more about your timeline.”
“Of course.” Cam replied, sharing a sidelong glance with Sam. She could have gotten that information from any of either of them.
“He must have remained with Qetesh’s host.” Teal’c concluded. Cam winced and turned to face the former First Prime.
“Vala...Vala.” He stage-whispered to the big man. Teal’c’s eyebrow rose momentarily but he acquiesced.
“With Vala.” Teal’c amended himself.
Anise’s placid face now wore a small frown.
“Te’sin advised against overwhelming her. He should not have stayed the night.” She said, making her way to Vala’s door.
Sam shot out of her seat and put her hand out in front of the Tok’ra to halt her progress.
“Daniel knows not to push her, trust me. He would have left if he didn’t think she was comfortable. Just give him some time.” She told the other woman. Anise looked utterly unconvinced but she wasn’t going to challenge her without concrete arguments.
“Very well.” She conceded. Sam moved to return to her seat but Anise’s host stopped her.
“Col. Carter.” Freya addressed her. “Dr. Jackson told us that you might be able to give us details on the temporal device Ba’al created.”
“Oh.” Sam returned, slightly surprised, “Yes, actually I wanted to talk to you about that myself. I’ve got an idea, granted it’s a little out there, to possibly rebuild it.”
“Rebuild it?” Cam asked her incredulously from the table.
“Well, yeah.” Sam replied, shifting from one foot to the other. “If we could rebuild it, we could go back in time and fix the timelines.” She turned to Teal’c. “That way the Jaffa would be free,” she turned to Freya, “and the Goa’uld would be vanquished.”
“We will have to bring this matter to the High Council.” Freya said, her eyes shifted to the side as she considered the possibilities. “They will reconvene tomorrow afternoon. We should meet today to plan as much as possible.”
“Sure,” Sam said excitedly, “I just have to meet with Martouf and Lantesh this morning and then we can go over what I remember.”
“That would be acceptable.” Freya smiled at her. She bowed her head in a farewell to the others and left them to their breakfast.
“Seriously though,” Cam began as he munch on a sweet-tasting piece of yellow fruit, “shouldn’t we be checkin’ on those two?”
Sam and Teal’c followed his line of sight to the perpetually closed door to Vala’s room but stayed in their seats with uncertainty.
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Daniel took his time getting back to Vala. He handed her back her refilled cup and paused a moment before sitting back down.
“Well,” he started gently, “that’s really up to you. I mean, we have a general plan to go with but we’re not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to.”
Vala’s grey eyes asked him to elaborate over the rim of her glass.
“Well, we kind of promised we’d help Teal’c free the Jaffa from the oppression of the Goa’uld.” Daniel informed her, his eyes rising to ceiling, his brow furrowing uncomfortably. Vala almost chocked on her water as her first laugh as a free woman escaped her.
“Is that all?” She asked, shocked and amused.
“Well we had to say something to keep him from shooting us, and at the time we thought fixing the timeline was still an option.” Daniel explained. He was used to ignoring the small pang that accompanied the realization that his old life would never be again. “But we’re stuck here until the Tok’ra decide to move which is probably a few weeks at the most now that the System Lords will be on the prowl.”
Vala nodded, looking intently into the water in her glass. Daniel couldn’t help his smile. She looked so much like his Vala had when she thought the base psychiatrist was going to give her a failing grade. It was the look she made when she was trying to convince herself she didn’t care that she wasn’t accepted.
“Vala,” he said, earning himself a cautious look from the woman sitting on the bed, “I’d...we’d all like it if you chose to come with us. I know you don’t know us at all but we...we’ve all missed you.”
The effect was immediate if restrained. She ducked her head but he could see a hint of a smile on her lips. It faded quickly as the sentiment faded and her situation returned, but he’d seen it.
“You...you’ll probably want to meet them before you decide.” Daniel realized, eager to introduce her to her alternate timeline self’s past. Vala visibly tensed on the bed, however. Daniel had eased gently into her sphere while she was still on the last waves of the confusion of extraction. Actively meeting new people...she wasn’t sure she wanted to do that just yet.
“Maybe....maybe in a bit?” Vala asked awkwardly. She didn’t want to offend her only “friend.”
“Oh o-of course, yeah.” Daniel sputtered, shaking his head. “Take all the time you need.”
Vala’s head dipped once and silence fell over them again. Daniel’s stomach suddenly growled with hunger and his head shot up as he mentally cursed himself.
“You must be starving!” He exclaimed, startling her.
“I don’t-”
“You can’t lie to me, Vala.” he admonished her good-naturedly. “If you’re anything like you’re alternate self, you’re always ready to eat and I know that you haven’t eaten a single thing in almost a week.”
Vala shrugged, her face a mix between a pout and a grin in reaction to her half-hearted protest falling flat on its behind.
“Why don’t I go see what I can find?” Daniel said, rising from his chair. “The guys will probably be wondering where I am.”
“Oh, yeah, you should...see them.” Vala nodded jerkily, feeling an urge to rise. She wasn’t sure, however, whether it was to see him out or to stop him from going.
“I’ll be back, Vala. I promise.” Daniel said softly, his hand halfway out to raising her chin before he stopped himself. Vala watched it as he let it fall quickly and tried to paint at least a small smile on her face. The end product was decidedly wobbly.
“I know. Go on.” She told him, finally getting up and seeing him to the door. “I’m not going anywhere.” She opened the door but stayed hidden behind it. Daniel hesitated but his concern over getting her some food won out and with a parting smile, he left the room. Vala closed the door quickly behind it and turned to face the painfully empty room. He’d be back. He promised.
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“Morning, Sunshine.” Cam called as he spied Daniel leaving Vala’s room uncertainly.
“Daniel, hey, how’s Vala?” Sam asked, unable to contain her concern over her friend.
“She’s good, she’s...she’s getting through it.” Daniel told them as he approached the table.
“Is she up to having visitors?” Sam asked hopefully.
“Ah...no, no, not yet.” Daniel said, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I, uh, I’m not sure she’s even that comfortable with me at the moment.”
“Did you talk to her at all?” Sam asked her, her hopefulness tapered into disappointment.
“Yeah, today she talked.” He said, taking one hand out and pointing towards the plates on the table. “I told her I’d get her some food, she hasn’t eaten at all.”
Sam pulled out the chair next to her and Daniel kneeled on it, wanting to get the food back to Vala as soon as possible. Teal’c handed him the extra plates and Cam pushed the platters towards him to fill them.
“So what’s the damage?” Cam asked point-blank. Daniel paused in his food shoveling to consider his answer.
“Well, she’s doing better than Sarah Gardner, that’s for sure.” He said. Sam and Cam let out a breath of relief as they thought of the woman who had to be institutionalized after her experience.
“She’s still Vala. She’s still a survivor, a fighter.” Daniel continued confidently. “She’s just a little more...skittish than usual. I don’t know when she’ll be up to crowds.”
“Well we’ve got time.” Cam declared after a moment of silence. “We’ll just have to find some patience to go with it.”
Daniel grinned and was thankful he was allowed admittance in Vala’s room when the others weren’t. He lifted his two full plates and Sam put some utensils on the side of both.
“Thanks.” He said. “I should get back.”
“Gloat some more, why don’tcha?” Cam called after amiably. Daniel knocked on Vala’s door and when it opened, he turned to throw Cam a teasing smirk before he entered. If felt so good to joke within the almost reformed team.
“Jerk!” Cameron yelled at him, the smile evident in his voice.
“Who was that?” Vala asked with a somewhat worried face as she took the plate he handed her and closed the door.
“Oh, that was just Cam.” Daniel said, his smirk still playing across his lips. “He’s just jealous.”
“Oh.” She replied thoughtfully. “Jealous of...of-”
“Jealous that I get to see you and they don’t.” He finished her sentence with a soft smile. “They really care about you.”
Vala replied with a smile but stayed silent. The more she heard about them, about their relationship with her alternate self, the more she was worried she wouldn’t live up to her and the more she became afraid of disappointing them. She cleared her head of those anxious thoughts and sat back down on her bed, her mouth already watering from the smell of the food on the plate.
“Daniel.” Vala voiced, needing to speak before being able to start eating. He looked up at her, a piece of meat halfway to his mouth. “Thank you...for coming back.”
Daniel’s lips curled into a sweet smile that made her feel the need to look away.
“I always will, Vala.” He promised her and then she really couldn’t stop her eyes from shifting back to her plate. Daniel seemed to understand that it was too much and shifted seamlessly into small-talk about himself, the Tok’ra, anything that didn’t
come too close to heavy topics. Before he knew it, their plates were empty and Anise was knocking on Vala’s door asking for his assistance.
“I’ll be back.” Daniel promised by the door.
“I know you will.” She told him honestly. She didn’t really know him but she had a feeling she could trust him. He shot her a smile and then he was out the door. Not a minute later, there was another knock on the door and Vala smiled as she went to answer.
“I told you I believe you, Daniel, you didn’t have t-” Vala’s eyes widened as she caught sight of her visitor. Suddenly, the levity that had settled within her from Daniel’s presence vanished and she was once again just a freed host, almost devoid of emotions. It was a useful defense mechanism.
“May I enter?” The familiar stranger asked. She stared almost vacantly into her doorway but, against her better judgement, she opened the door wider.
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Thanks for reading! Two more to go!
>>Next: Chapter 8
Author: Milena D.
Rating: T (PG-13) for now
Genre: Action/Angst/Romance
Pairings: Daniel/Vala, some Cam/Sam can be seen as shippy
SPOILERS: HUGE SPOILERS FOR CONTINUUM.
Summary: A divergence in the lives of our team from one of the last scenes of the movie causes their future to change radically and permanently. Daniel/Vala and HUGE spoilers for CONTINUUM.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Stargate Continuum, the Stargate Series, any of the characters, I don’t even own the premise which is the plot from the movie. Basically I own nothing and am making no money so please don’t sue.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6
Author’s Note #1: Hello to those who haven’t fallen out of their chairs at the sight of a new SG-1 fic chapter from me....aaand now hello to those who’ve recovered and joined us. Here’s what’s up: anyone who reads this who writes fics will likely know how much of a jerk one can feel when they leave their readers waiting on fics like I have for...let’s just say a VERY long time. I apologize from the bottom of my heart. What I didn’t want to do is post another chapter and then make you wait another year for the next when I hit a wall (and it’s a damn good thing I did because I wrote this months ago and never touched the fic again till recently.)
SO, this fic is actually completed. Including this chapter, there are 3 left until the end. They have been written out completely and will be posted within 3-4 days of each other so there will no longer be the frustrating wait. The other fics I have will be done in much the same way (working on A Gift From Above now!). Anyway, I’m incredibly sorry for the wait. I hope most of you will still like/read this and I hope it’s a least very partially worth sticking with.
Author's Note #2: Had no beta so I'm really sorry about any typos! Also...these chapters are a little longer than the rest, hope you don't mind. ;)
With no further ado...
Author's Note #3: Special thanks to natalia5345 for her tireless encouragements and to campylobacter for the great nudge back to writing and the great suggestions on how to continue! Couldn't have done it without you guys! ^_^
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Chapter 7: Good Morning, Sunshine
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For the past two days, she’d had been shut away in her dark room, not so much fearing the outside world as trying to escape it. She had too much going on in her own head to deal with external problems. She would always remember the gruesome pain of the extraction process. To go from years without any sensation whatsoever to awakening through the worst pain she’d ever know...she wished she could forget. Thankfully, once they’d taken her out of the restraints, one of them had healed her with a healing device. Then, she wished they hadn’t. Her pain-free mind had been blessed with a few disorienting minutes of emptiness before being assaulted with floods of memories, some her own, most Qetesh’s and none of those pleasant.
Time hadn’t really meant much to her as she lie in the bed she’d been given. They had known without asking that she would prefer the lights be turned off, the brightness hurting her newly awakened senses, and she fleetingly wondered how many broken people had lain where she lay now. She reached a silent hysteria as she saw herself as nothing but a link in a chain of mass “freed host” production. The insanity faded though. Not quickly, not easily, but it was assuaged and she was left shivering at the prospect of living. She’d been dead inside her own body for so many years, what was she to do now?
She had been Vala Mal Doran before being taken, she knew that, but she didn’t feel like her anymore. Her life before Qetesh was like a protected bubble in her mind, untouchable. She could see it but she couldn’t feel it. Now, without a past, and back from the abyss of nothingness, she could hardly understand the prospect of a future. She had lost her hopes, her dreams, her goals, her family, her friends...
Someone had interrupted her private sanctum of darkness, had let the outside world pierce through her hiding place both literally and figuratively. He’d made enough noise to alert her but the bright lights of the hallway splashed against her wall were enough to let her know she had been found out. She had remained still, her wide eyes fixed on the wall in front of her, unheeding of whatever the person wanted. The sound of his voice as he spoke quietly to her was both soothing and frightening. It was the first sound she had heard in days once the hustle and bustle of the Tok’ra had left her in peace. She hadn’t been lucid enough to appreciate their noises then but this one she committed to memory. She absorbed his words intently, not bothering with understanding their meaning for the moment, just taking in his every sentence. It was only several minutes after he’d gone quiet that she started processing his message and realized he intended to stay. She had a sudden urge to see her stranger but after days without sleep, she lacked the energy, so she let her head fall back to her pillow to decode the rest of his statements.
She awoke the next morning, startled with the sensation of simply rousing from sleep. It was nothing like the painful jerk out of limbo that was extraction, it was a peaceful and gradual return to her senses, and she took the time to simply revel in it. She was surprised she’d slept at all, not remembering being tired. But then she recalled her stranger and the one word from his speech that she’d taken to heart. Vala. He had called her Vala. He’d given her back the simple joy of having an identity, whatever shape it might take.
Vala turned slowly in her bed, the perpetual darkness of the room giving her the time to focus on the tactile sensations of her body moving according to her own will. She lie on her back and turned her face to the side, seeing that her stranger had made good on his request to stay and had fallen asleep in the chair by her bed. In the silence of the room, however, her subtle movements had made enough of a disturbance to wake him and she saw him lift his cheek from his hand and blink owlishly a few times.
She wondered why he didn’t greet her, he was looking at her but saying nothing. She could clearly see him frown by the glow of the Tok’ra emitter before he started searching for something. Spotting his prize, he lifted a pair of glasses from his lap and placed them on his nose, frowning again, no doubt, as his eyesight got better. Then he gave a start as he realized she was awake and staring at him. He didn’t look away though, and a sheepish smile took shape over his lips.
“Um...morning.” He said, his voice as soft and soothing as it had been yesterday. “I uh...I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean to stay the night. I mean, you must want some privacy at some point, I just - I fell asleep.”
His stuttering and and his flustered appearance tugged at her mouth but it wasn’t quite ready to smile yet. Instead, she focused and lifted herself slowly into a sitting position on the bed to bring them roughly to the same height. The man looked fleetingly toward the door but made no move to leave. He simply shifted in his chair to get more comfortable.
“How are you feeling?” He asked warmly. It was then she realized that he wasn’t a Tok’ra, nor a Jaffa. He was dressed strangely and spoke with a different accent than she was used to.
“Who are you?” She whispered, her voice sounding rough and raspy even to her own ears.
The man looked slightly taken aback, obviously he hadn’t really expected her to speak. His face softened though and he smiled again.
“I guess you really were sleeping yesterday.” He grinned, looking like he felt foolish.
“I wasn’t.” She replied, her voice cracking from disuse. “I just...I couldn’t...” She broke up, her hand gesturing to her head trying to convey how she hadn’t been completely there. He seemed to understand as he nodded sympathetically. Before he could introduce himself again, her throat tickled from speaking and she raised her hand to her neck uncomfortably.
“Oh, hey, how about I, um, get you some water?” He asked, standing up, seemingly eager to be of use. For a moment she wanted to say no, she didn’t want him to leave, but her throat demanded reprieve so she nodded again. To her surprise, he didn’t leave the room but rather crossed over to the other side.
“Do you mind if I turn the lights on just a little?” He called to her, the glow of the Tok’ra emitter didn’t reach that side of the room.
“Sure.” She replied, the tickle turning into a cough at the tail-end of her word.
“Okay, cover your eyes for a minute.” He asked her, groping the wall to find the light mechanism. A moment later, she could see a faint orange glow between the closed fingers over her eyes and as she let herself look at it, she found that it didn’t give her a headache as it would have days ago. Slowly, and squinting heavily, she took her hand away from her face and looked at the room revealed to her.
There wasn’t much on her side other than her bed and the chair near it. The man’s side was furnished with a dresser and apparently a bathroom. She could see him at the sink, his back turned to her but his face visible from the angle of the mirror. He looked to be in his mid-thirties at least, his light brown hair was cut short and his face was handsome but unremarkable. His eyes, however, were a startling clear blue that was obvious even at this distance. They shifted slightly to the left in the mirror and locked with hers as he filled the glass from the tap.
As he came back out of the bathroom, his hand reached for the light switch but she stopped him.
“You can leave it.” She said, coughing again. He nodded and quickly crossed the floor to give her the cup before retaking his place in the chair. The cool liquid caressed her throat and she relished the feeling. She hadn’t eaten or drunk anything since the extraction and only now was she starting to realize that the pit in her stomach might not be emotionally-related. She didn’t have much time to dwell on it since the man leaned forward in the chair, his elbows on his knees, looking at her with more kindness than she was used to.
“My name is Daniel Jackson.” He said simply, as if unsure about going on with the speech he made last night.
“Right. Daniel.” Vala echoed. She hadn’t completely forgotten what he’d said, she just hadn’t...absorbed it all. “Nice to meet you.” Daniel smiled at the weirdness of the situation. Vala tried to reciprocate but all she could manage was a slight quirking of the corners of her lips.
“How...how do you know me again?” Vala asked him, feeling a jab in her heart as the light visibly dimmed in his eyes. “I just- my memories aren’t exactly...well structure at the moment.”
“No, no,” Daniel assuaged her concern, stretching out a hand to stop her uncertainty, “we’ve never actually met...this time.”
Vala’s brow furrowed as she tried to recall what he’d said yesterday.
“Something...about an alternate timeline?” She asked timidly, setting her empty glass on the floor.
“Exactly,” he confirmed, “I’m, well my friends and I, we’re from a different timeline.”
“One where we knew each other.” Vala concluded, trying not to feel jealous of her alternate self when his eyes softened in memory of her.
“Yes, we were pretty close.” He told her before realizing it. “We all - we were all...close.”
Vala’s gaze was analytical but she let it go.
“And you brought me here, to get her - to fre -” She stumbled over her words, her mind refusing to say them aloud.
“Yeah, well...yeah.” Daniel intervened. He was going to expand the story but including Qetesh into their conversation wasn’t something either of them wanted. Vala nodded absentmindedly before looking into his blue eyes again.
“Thank you.” She said sincerely, adding a shrug to try to dispel to overwhelmingly solemn air that had descended upon them.
“Anytime.” He replied with a lopsided grin. This time, Vala was able to produce a small smile in return. A somewhat awkward silence fell over them and Daniel picked up her glass from the floor and went to get her a refill to break it. While he let the water run a bit to get colder, her heard Vala from her bedroom.
“Daniel?” She called him. He caught her eyes again in the mirror as he slipped the glass under the cool stream. Vala’s eyes dipped low and her confidence seemed to evaporate as he looked on. “What now?” She asked softly. Daniel let his eyes move back to his own in the mirror and mentally asked himself the same question.
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“Sleep well?” Cam asked Sam as she plopped into the chair across from him and Teal’c at the table of their alcove for breakfast.
“Well but not long.” She said, blowing a large sigh as she reached for the juice.
“Trouble getting to sleep?” He asked as he spread some kind of fruity jam on his bread.
“No, Martouf just kept going on and on.” She said, trying to stifle a yawn before noticing the look the guys were sending her. “Not like that.” She rolled her eyes and filled her plate with fruits. “Jolinar didn’t find a host in time in this timeline, she never made it back to the Tok’ra.” Sam told them. “Martouf wanted to know, well, pretty much everything I did.”
“Ah, guess it would have been kind of cruel to make him wait.” Cam replied, sympathizing with the Tok’ra. Sam shrugged.
“I agreed to meet with him later to tell him what we didn’t get to yesterday but I’m drawing the line at memory recall devices.” She told them.
“What about you, big guy? Got any plans?” Cam asked the silent Teal’c. Sam recognized his behaviour from three years ago when he’d been trying to get everyone involved and excited about regrouping.
“I do not.” He replied simply.
“Well how about you and me find a training room and see how I measure up to you in this timeline?” Cam offered with a competitive grin. Teal’c considered the proposition and finally accepted.
“Anyone know when Jackson’s gonna join us?” Cam asked the table.
“I don’t know.” Sam replied. “I was up late in here with Martouf and I didn’t see him leave Vala’s room. I don’t even know where his room is.”
“Dr. Jackson did not sleep in his room last night.” Anise told them, her metallic voice making them all tense a moment as she stepped into the alcove.
“And you know that how?” Cam asked her, keeping his tone light.
“I have just come from his quarters, there is no sign anyone has been in them.” She informed them, understanding by their looks that they wanted more information. “I was going to invite him to break his fast with me. It would give me the opportunity to learn more about your timeline.”
“Of course.” Cam replied, sharing a sidelong glance with Sam. She could have gotten that information from any of either of them.
“He must have remained with Qetesh’s host.” Teal’c concluded. Cam winced and turned to face the former First Prime.
“Vala...Vala.” He stage-whispered to the big man. Teal’c’s eyebrow rose momentarily but he acquiesced.
“With Vala.” Teal’c amended himself.
Anise’s placid face now wore a small frown.
“Te’sin advised against overwhelming her. He should not have stayed the night.” She said, making her way to Vala’s door.
Sam shot out of her seat and put her hand out in front of the Tok’ra to halt her progress.
“Daniel knows not to push her, trust me. He would have left if he didn’t think she was comfortable. Just give him some time.” She told the other woman. Anise looked utterly unconvinced but she wasn’t going to challenge her without concrete arguments.
“Very well.” She conceded. Sam moved to return to her seat but Anise’s host stopped her.
“Col. Carter.” Freya addressed her. “Dr. Jackson told us that you might be able to give us details on the temporal device Ba’al created.”
“Oh.” Sam returned, slightly surprised, “Yes, actually I wanted to talk to you about that myself. I’ve got an idea, granted it’s a little out there, to possibly rebuild it.”
“Rebuild it?” Cam asked her incredulously from the table.
“Well, yeah.” Sam replied, shifting from one foot to the other. “If we could rebuild it, we could go back in time and fix the timelines.” She turned to Teal’c. “That way the Jaffa would be free,” she turned to Freya, “and the Goa’uld would be vanquished.”
“We will have to bring this matter to the High Council.” Freya said, her eyes shifted to the side as she considered the possibilities. “They will reconvene tomorrow afternoon. We should meet today to plan as much as possible.”
“Sure,” Sam said excitedly, “I just have to meet with Martouf and Lantesh this morning and then we can go over what I remember.”
“That would be acceptable.” Freya smiled at her. She bowed her head in a farewell to the others and left them to their breakfast.
“Seriously though,” Cam began as he munch on a sweet-tasting piece of yellow fruit, “shouldn’t we be checkin’ on those two?”
Sam and Teal’c followed his line of sight to the perpetually closed door to Vala’s room but stayed in their seats with uncertainty.
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Daniel took his time getting back to Vala. He handed her back her refilled cup and paused a moment before sitting back down.
“Well,” he started gently, “that’s really up to you. I mean, we have a general plan to go with but we’re not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to.”
Vala’s grey eyes asked him to elaborate over the rim of her glass.
“Well, we kind of promised we’d help Teal’c free the Jaffa from the oppression of the Goa’uld.” Daniel informed her, his eyes rising to ceiling, his brow furrowing uncomfortably. Vala almost chocked on her water as her first laugh as a free woman escaped her.
“Is that all?” She asked, shocked and amused.
“Well we had to say something to keep him from shooting us, and at the time we thought fixing the timeline was still an option.” Daniel explained. He was used to ignoring the small pang that accompanied the realization that his old life would never be again. “But we’re stuck here until the Tok’ra decide to move which is probably a few weeks at the most now that the System Lords will be on the prowl.”
Vala nodded, looking intently into the water in her glass. Daniel couldn’t help his smile. She looked so much like his Vala had when she thought the base psychiatrist was going to give her a failing grade. It was the look she made when she was trying to convince herself she didn’t care that she wasn’t accepted.
“Vala,” he said, earning himself a cautious look from the woman sitting on the bed, “I’d...we’d all like it if you chose to come with us. I know you don’t know us at all but we...we’ve all missed you.”
The effect was immediate if restrained. She ducked her head but he could see a hint of a smile on her lips. It faded quickly as the sentiment faded and her situation returned, but he’d seen it.
“You...you’ll probably want to meet them before you decide.” Daniel realized, eager to introduce her to her alternate timeline self’s past. Vala visibly tensed on the bed, however. Daniel had eased gently into her sphere while she was still on the last waves of the confusion of extraction. Actively meeting new people...she wasn’t sure she wanted to do that just yet.
“Maybe....maybe in a bit?” Vala asked awkwardly. She didn’t want to offend her only “friend.”
“Oh o-of course, yeah.” Daniel sputtered, shaking his head. “Take all the time you need.”
Vala’s head dipped once and silence fell over them again. Daniel’s stomach suddenly growled with hunger and his head shot up as he mentally cursed himself.
“You must be starving!” He exclaimed, startling her.
“I don’t-”
“You can’t lie to me, Vala.” he admonished her good-naturedly. “If you’re anything like you’re alternate self, you’re always ready to eat and I know that you haven’t eaten a single thing in almost a week.”
Vala shrugged, her face a mix between a pout and a grin in reaction to her half-hearted protest falling flat on its behind.
“Why don’t I go see what I can find?” Daniel said, rising from his chair. “The guys will probably be wondering where I am.”
“Oh, yeah, you should...see them.” Vala nodded jerkily, feeling an urge to rise. She wasn’t sure, however, whether it was to see him out or to stop him from going.
“I’ll be back, Vala. I promise.” Daniel said softly, his hand halfway out to raising her chin before he stopped himself. Vala watched it as he let it fall quickly and tried to paint at least a small smile on her face. The end product was decidedly wobbly.
“I know. Go on.” She told him, finally getting up and seeing him to the door. “I’m not going anywhere.” She opened the door but stayed hidden behind it. Daniel hesitated but his concern over getting her some food won out and with a parting smile, he left the room. Vala closed the door quickly behind it and turned to face the painfully empty room. He’d be back. He promised.
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“Morning, Sunshine.” Cam called as he spied Daniel leaving Vala’s room uncertainly.
“Daniel, hey, how’s Vala?” Sam asked, unable to contain her concern over her friend.
“She’s good, she’s...she’s getting through it.” Daniel told them as he approached the table.
“Is she up to having visitors?” Sam asked hopefully.
“Ah...no, no, not yet.” Daniel said, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I, uh, I’m not sure she’s even that comfortable with me at the moment.”
“Did you talk to her at all?” Sam asked her, her hopefulness tapered into disappointment.
“Yeah, today she talked.” He said, taking one hand out and pointing towards the plates on the table. “I told her I’d get her some food, she hasn’t eaten at all.”
Sam pulled out the chair next to her and Daniel kneeled on it, wanting to get the food back to Vala as soon as possible. Teal’c handed him the extra plates and Cam pushed the platters towards him to fill them.
“So what’s the damage?” Cam asked point-blank. Daniel paused in his food shoveling to consider his answer.
“Well, she’s doing better than Sarah Gardner, that’s for sure.” He said. Sam and Cam let out a breath of relief as they thought of the woman who had to be institutionalized after her experience.
“She’s still Vala. She’s still a survivor, a fighter.” Daniel continued confidently. “She’s just a little more...skittish than usual. I don’t know when she’ll be up to crowds.”
“Well we’ve got time.” Cam declared after a moment of silence. “We’ll just have to find some patience to go with it.”
Daniel grinned and was thankful he was allowed admittance in Vala’s room when the others weren’t. He lifted his two full plates and Sam put some utensils on the side of both.
“Thanks.” He said. “I should get back.”
“Gloat some more, why don’tcha?” Cam called after amiably. Daniel knocked on Vala’s door and when it opened, he turned to throw Cam a teasing smirk before he entered. If felt so good to joke within the almost reformed team.
“Jerk!” Cameron yelled at him, the smile evident in his voice.
“Who was that?” Vala asked with a somewhat worried face as she took the plate he handed her and closed the door.
“Oh, that was just Cam.” Daniel said, his smirk still playing across his lips. “He’s just jealous.”
“Oh.” She replied thoughtfully. “Jealous of...of-”
“Jealous that I get to see you and they don’t.” He finished her sentence with a soft smile. “They really care about you.”
Vala replied with a smile but stayed silent. The more she heard about them, about their relationship with her alternate self, the more she was worried she wouldn’t live up to her and the more she became afraid of disappointing them. She cleared her head of those anxious thoughts and sat back down on her bed, her mouth already watering from the smell of the food on the plate.
“Daniel.” Vala voiced, needing to speak before being able to start eating. He looked up at her, a piece of meat halfway to his mouth. “Thank you...for coming back.”
Daniel’s lips curled into a sweet smile that made her feel the need to look away.
“I always will, Vala.” He promised her and then she really couldn’t stop her eyes from shifting back to her plate. Daniel seemed to understand that it was too much and shifted seamlessly into small-talk about himself, the Tok’ra, anything that didn’t
come too close to heavy topics. Before he knew it, their plates were empty and Anise was knocking on Vala’s door asking for his assistance.
“I’ll be back.” Daniel promised by the door.
“I know you will.” She told him honestly. She didn’t really know him but she had a feeling she could trust him. He shot her a smile and then he was out the door. Not a minute later, there was another knock on the door and Vala smiled as she went to answer.
“I told you I believe you, Daniel, you didn’t have t-” Vala’s eyes widened as she caught sight of her visitor. Suddenly, the levity that had settled within her from Daniel’s presence vanished and she was once again just a freed host, almost devoid of emotions. It was a useful defense mechanism.
“May I enter?” The familiar stranger asked. She stared almost vacantly into her doorway but, against her better judgement, she opened the door wider.
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Thanks for reading! Two more to go!
>>Next: Chapter 8