FIC: To the End (1/1, apocafic, vala/daniel, T)
Title - To the End
Author - shallowgaudy
Rating - FRT/T
Warnings - Nothing explicit (mostly mentions of past events), but: major character death(s), stillbirth, burning someone alive. APOCAFIC - SUCCESSFUL ORI INVASION. FILLED WITH ORI LIES AND PROPAGANDA. Also kidfic. Angst, angst and more angst.
Summary - Which is how Vala ended up at the arse-end of the Pegasus Galaxy tied to an Ara for two days, expecting to be burned to death in the morning. And she wasn’t even a thrice-damned Tau’ri…
Spoilers - All of Stargate SG-1
Category - AU, angst, future-fic, romance, kidfic
Characters - Vala, Daniel, OCs. Vala/Daniel. Mention of Vala/Cam
Word Count - 2721
Timeline - Goes AU in season 10 before “The Quest”, but set thirty years later. The Ori control their own galaxy, the Milky Way and Pegasus, and have eliminated most of the Ancients.
Disclaimer - Not mine. Not even close.
Notes - I sincerely hope this makes sense. It was originally set to be part of a wider universe that never got written, it should stand on its own, however.
******
(Please read the warnings)
While the general people had no idea what an SG team was, or why the Ori might despise them, everyone knew the term Tau’ri. The Tau’ri had once been a great race of people, benevolent, peace-faring and devout followers of the Ori. They were race of beings who had seen the subjugation of their galaxy at the hands of the Goa’uld and despaired.
So they had turned to their true gods and begged for help in ridding themselves of this terrible plague. The Ori, in their great wisdom, gave them the means, asking only that once the threat was gone that the Tau’ri would spread word of the true gods and the salvation they offered. Eagerly the Tau’ri agreed, for they were a good and wise race, and so the Goa’uld were eliminated.
However, once they saw they were free, the Tau’ri became drunk on the power and were led astray - away from their gods. Eventually, they tried, in turn, to eliminate the Ori. Of course, such a thing was impossible, but in the process many good people - followers of the Ori - were killed. The Ori were forced to step in and stop the Tau’ri, by destroying their homeworld, and those of their allies.
Unfortunately, a few escaped and continued their campaign of hate. Every good citizen of the Ori knew it was their duty to seek out these Tau’ri and stamp out their evil.
Which is how Vala ended up at the arse-end of the Pegasus Galaxy tied to an Ara for two days, expecting to be burned to death in the morning.
And she wasn’t even a thrice-damned Tau’ri…
-x-x-x-
Vala was tired, hungry, cold, stiff, sore and very, very thirsty. She was entirely too old for this crap. Too bad there wasn’t going to be an eleventh hour rescue this time.
It was times like this that she really missed the other members of SG-1.
Though in reality she had survived relatively well on her own without them. Cam had been the last to die, and that had been ten years ago. Another year would mark twenty years since Daniel’s death - not that she would live to see that anniversary (being burned to death had its uses). Sam, Teal’c, General Landry and even Jack O’Neill had not survived the initial invasion of Earth.
She was terribly lonely.
“Vala.”
Though not terribly alone.
“Vala.”
She ignored him. He had spent the past two days whispering in her ear, invisible but not silent.
“Vala.”
“I’m not listening.”
There was a silence and she could picture him standing in front of her, arms crossed as he frowned and waited for her to respond. But she had not survived this long without learning patience.
“Vala.” And it was a small victory that she could out-stubborn an ascended being.
“Go away, Daniel,” she said firmly.
“No,” he said.
A soft breeze rushed past her, ruffling her hair - short and mostly grey - brushing down her arms in a way that was inexplicably a caress not unlike one he might have given her while he was still living. Nothing else stirred, not even the dust she sat in.
“I can’t do it, you know,” she said conversationally. “I can’t ascend.”
“Of course you can,” he said firmly, in that tone that defied disbelief, but then he’d always had far more faith in her than she ever thought she deserved.
Again there was a soft brush of air, this time against her cheek, and one that felt remarkably like lips pressing against her own.
“Daniel.” Despite her best efforts, there was ragged edge to her tone, something that could almost be pleading. “I’m tired, can’t you just leave me to die in peace? Haven’t I fought hard enough?”
“We’re losing,” he said softly.
“No, Daniel, we’re not. We’ve already lost. We lost a very, very long time ago.”
“If you think that, then why are you being burned for heresy?”
“You know I was never very good at blind faith. Or following the rules.”
There was something that could have been an exasperated sigh, but somehow that seemed beneath someone who was meant to be ascended.
“I’ve been watching you, you know,” he said. And she could almost see that endless look in his eyes, as if he were standing right in front of her.
“Well, that’s just creepy,” she retorted. Then, despite everything, she smirked. “Did you see me with all of them? All the other…” she paused for dramatic effect, “men? What about Cam, did you see me with Cam?” Admittedly that had lasted a very short time before they’d both decided it was a Very Bad Idea. “What about Ebias? Hasan?”
“Vala.”
“Joab? Leo?”
“Vala.”
“Oh, I’m not done yet.”
“Vala. It never mattered to me who you were with.” His tone was hardly filled with jealous rage - unbecoming in an ascended being - but there was enough distaste in the last word to satisfy a small amount of the abandonment she’d felt as his widow. But he was continuing, “I only cared that you were safe.”
She noticed he didn’t say happy, but then that would have been more than even he could have reasonably expected given…well, given the Ori.
“You and…”
“Mom?”
At the quiet whisper, she could literally feel him dissipate - quite a feat for a being who was completely invisible and completely incorporeal.
To her growing horror the shadows around her began to shift into solid shapes. Five of them. All five of them.
She and Daniel had had two sons - Jonathon and Samuel. Their third child, the daughter he’d so desperately wanted had died unborn in the same attack that had killed him. She’d called the girl Sha’re, and then felt guilty for giving a dead child a dead woman’s name, but she’d been unable to give her another one.
Mimi was Cam’s daughter, curly red hair and a mouth that should have been constantly smiling, but given to a child raised in too much hardship. He’d been unclear about who her mother was and none of the rest of them had ever felt like pressing.
Talia and Benj were orphans they’d collected on some world that had been devastated by the Ori.
They’d raised them on the run, dodging from one resistance planet to the next, trying to stay ahead of their enemy. She and Daniel and Cam. And then her and Cam, and then just her - the woman whose previous legacy had been Adria.
But she must have done something right, because here they were - strong soldiers every one of them - fighting the Ori.
Jonathon was kneeling in front of her, trying to pry open the shackles before she could blink. She yanked her arm out of his grip.
“What are you doing here?” she said in a harsh whisper, making sure to include all of them in her glare. “You think I’m not being watched? You think they aren’t waiting to arrest anyone who helps me? I’m bait.”
“Mom, please!” this from Samuel.
“Let us save you,” pleaded Mimi. “We have a ship. It’s just outside the village. We just have to get there and we’re free.”
“Oh, Mimi, it’s not going to work like that. Not anymore. They’re not going to let me escape - not anymore. I’m a dead woman.” In many ways the fire was just part of a ceremony. In the years since they’d managed to acquire three galaxies and wipe out most of the Ancients, the Ori had grown so very powerful. They weren’t omniscient, but they were close.
In fact, it was a wonder they hadn’t grabbed her children yet. It was a wonder they hadn’t stopped Daniel from talking to her.
Maybe this was all part of some higher plan. Maybe they were just toying with them all.
“Please.” Talia knelt beside her, and took her hand while Jonathon reached for the other once again. “Just let us help you.”
“You can’t,” she said as her eyes began to burn. “I’m lost.” She yanked her arm from Jonathon, but lifted it to stroke a hand down his cheek. “I don’t think I could bear it if you were lost too.” Hot, wet tears spilled over and down her own cheeks as she encountered dampness on her son’s.
Talia was clinging to her hand so tightly it hurt. At least one of the others were sniffling.
“Mom.”
“No.”
“You need to listen to your mother.”
All six of them started at the new voice, ringing and clear, lacking the hush of the rest, and turned to see a new figure striding forward, one who almost seemed to shed his own light.
In the two decades since she’d last seen him, she’d forgotten how much he looked like her little Sam. Well, her big Sam, now.
Instantly, there were five weapons trained on Daniel, not that he seemed bothered. Of course none of the weapons could do much damage. They’d never found anything that could destroy an ascended being, despite myth and rumours that ran far and wide.
She was surprised none of them picked up on his resemblance to Samuel, but then that was the only way they would have recognised them. It was too dangerous to have anything like a photograph and, barring Jonathon, all of them had been too young to have any clear memories of him.
It was Jonathon who stood now, and took a tentative step forward. “Dad?” he asked incredulously.
“Hello, Jonathon,” Daniel replied. His eyes swept across the group, settling on Vala’s own for a moment. “Mimi…Benj…Talia…Samuel.”
“But you’re dead!” protested Benj. The youngest and the one, along with Talia, who had already lost four parents - three before they were old enough to remember - and were about to lose another.
“Not quite,” said Daniel.
“He’s ascended,” answered Vala, since he seemed to have picked up that annoying habit of being as obscure as possible.
“Ascended?” Jonathon took another step forward. Ah, Jonathon, her boy, her angry, angry little boy. Angry at the Ori. Angry at the unfairness. Angry at the universe. “Then why don’t you do something to help.”
“I can’t,” he said.
“Can’t or won’t?” Now Talia was standing and moving forward.
“Can’t,” said Vala with certainty. Greeted with five sceptical stares - they knew her general opinion of the ascended. “I’ve seen what happens to ascended who try to interfere. They’re usually stopped and punished for far less. In fact,” she paused and turned to Daniel, “I’m surprised they let you get this far.”
He shrugged. “I haven’t broken any rules yet. Speaking of which...those have changed a little.”
“Oh, and Ori have no problem with it?” she said.
“I may have…some of the others running interference for me.” She spared a moment to wonder who these ‘others’ were and why they might help, before noticing how very guilty he looked, much more than the act warranted.
It wasn’t often she got to catch him out in some wrong doing - far too often it was the other way around - so despite the situation she couldn’t help feeling a little bit gleeful.
“Daniel, what are you doing?”
“What does it matter what he’s doing?” snapped Jonathon. “If he’s not going to help, then what does it matter? Come on, there’s no one here to stop us, Mom, we can get you out of here.”
“No!” Both her and Daniel’s tones’ rang with desperation.
“And why not? There are no Ancients here right now. No Ori. Not even a damned Prior. Why would you stop us from saving her?” Jonathon advanced until he was almost nose to nose with his father. Daniel flinched slightly at the anger directed at him, and took a step back - though she suspected that was more so he could see all of them.
“Because, if you save her, I won’t be able to protect you!”
Aha! “That’s what you’re doing, isn’t it?” she asked. “Shielding us? Or them, rather?” She was marked now, she doubted there was anything he could do, even if he wasn’t bound by the laws of the Ancients.
Before he could answer though, Jonathon was shouting again. “Why? Why would you bother? It’s not like you did us any good when you were alive!”
“Because it’s the only way I could!” cried Daniel.
She’d always wondered firstly why he would ascend when he knew it would mean nothing more than an eternity of frustration as he watched those he loved hurt, unable to do much to help. And secondly why he’d never shown himself, not even to offer some meagre comfort.
Well, now she had her answers: it was an act of desperation. Probably equal to that of the Ancients who allowed him to ascend in the first place.
She wasn’t allowed to dwell on the revelation, however. Jonathon was still at it. “None of us asked for your protection!”
Daniel met her eyes, helplessly.
She opened her mouth to try and stem the flood of rage, but knew from experience he was unlikely to listen.
Samuel got in first. “That’s enough! Come on, let’s get Mom and go.” He’d clearly decided that his father wasn’t going to stop them, or that they could get past him.
Vala knew better.
“I said NO!” In the space of a heartbeat all five of the children were disarmed, and pushed back, towards the way they came.
It was completely uncharacteristic of Daniel, and only served to highlight just how desperate he really was.
“Daniel…”
“Vala, please,” he begged. He was saving them the only way he could see - her by ascension, their children by attempting to chase them off. She nodded, and turned to look at her son. The last time she would have the opportunity to see him, any of them.
“Jonathon, I want you to take the others and go. Your father’s right. You can’t save me, only condemn yourselves.”
“Mom?”
“It’s all right, Talia. I’ll be fine.” Her words were once again belied by the tears spilling over.
In the end they went, Samuel almost needing to be dragged but they went. It was long minutes after they disappeared into the darkness before Daniel relaxed. “They’re gone. Not far, but far enough.”
Vala allowed herself to relax minutely. “Will you sit with me?”
“Of course.” He came over and sat beside her, wrapped an arm around her waist, so she could settle against him, and pressed a kiss to her temple.
“This is all your great plan to get me alone, isn’t it?” she asked teasingly.
His lips quirked up. “You wish.”
“How much of this is real?” she asked after a moment.
“It’s not a hallucination,” he said frowning.
She shook her head. “No…unless you have taken human form…” he shook his head quickly. “Then I shouldn’t be able to touch you.”
“Special rules.”
She wasn’t accepting half answers. Not tonight. “What special rules?”
He smiled enigmatically. “Telekinesis.”
“Really?” Her previous experiences with telekinesis were the ripping weapons from people hands, picking them up and choking them kind - Adria’s tricks. This was much more intimate. She could feel warmth and hard muscle against her side, she could feel the gentle brush of finger tips against her arm. And moments later when he dipped his head and pressed his lips to her own, real or not, it melted her insides and curled her toes.
But then if anyone could achieve that degree of control, it would be Daniel.
“All right, you can ascend me now,” she told him, voice slightly breathless.
He chuckled, then sobered. “It’s going to be painful,” he told her, ever gentle.
“I’ve burned to death before.”
He nodded slowly, and then said briskly, “Right then, lets get started.”
In the morning the Prior came, and the villagers - jeering and catcalling. From their reactions she could tell none of them saw Daniel, still sitting with her, still holding her. He whispered words of assurance and love, calming her when they poured the fire.
He’d nearly burned to death with her once. He knew what it was like.
She’d forgotten just how painful it was, how much you wanted to scream because you had no other outlet. She nearly lost the focus that she had worked so hard to build. But in the end, at the last moment she was able to let go.
******
Author - shallowgaudy
Rating - FRT/T
Warnings - Nothing explicit (mostly mentions of past events), but: major character death(s), stillbirth, burning someone alive. APOCAFIC - SUCCESSFUL ORI INVASION. FILLED WITH ORI LIES AND PROPAGANDA. Also kidfic. Angst, angst and more angst.
Summary - Which is how Vala ended up at the arse-end of the Pegasus Galaxy tied to an Ara for two days, expecting to be burned to death in the morning. And she wasn’t even a thrice-damned Tau’ri…
Spoilers - All of Stargate SG-1
Category - AU, angst, future-fic, romance, kidfic
Characters - Vala, Daniel, OCs. Vala/Daniel. Mention of Vala/Cam
Word Count - 2721
Timeline - Goes AU in season 10 before “The Quest”, but set thirty years later. The Ori control their own galaxy, the Milky Way and Pegasus, and have eliminated most of the Ancients.
Disclaimer - Not mine. Not even close.
Notes - I sincerely hope this makes sense. It was originally set to be part of a wider universe that never got written, it should stand on its own, however.
******
(Please read the warnings)
While the general people had no idea what an SG team was, or why the Ori might despise them, everyone knew the term Tau’ri. The Tau’ri had once been a great race of people, benevolent, peace-faring and devout followers of the Ori. They were race of beings who had seen the subjugation of their galaxy at the hands of the Goa’uld and despaired.
So they had turned to their true gods and begged for help in ridding themselves of this terrible plague. The Ori, in their great wisdom, gave them the means, asking only that once the threat was gone that the Tau’ri would spread word of the true gods and the salvation they offered. Eagerly the Tau’ri agreed, for they were a good and wise race, and so the Goa’uld were eliminated.
However, once they saw they were free, the Tau’ri became drunk on the power and were led astray - away from their gods. Eventually, they tried, in turn, to eliminate the Ori. Of course, such a thing was impossible, but in the process many good people - followers of the Ori - were killed. The Ori were forced to step in and stop the Tau’ri, by destroying their homeworld, and those of their allies.
Unfortunately, a few escaped and continued their campaign of hate. Every good citizen of the Ori knew it was their duty to seek out these Tau’ri and stamp out their evil.
Which is how Vala ended up at the arse-end of the Pegasus Galaxy tied to an Ara for two days, expecting to be burned to death in the morning.
And she wasn’t even a thrice-damned Tau’ri…
-x-x-x-
Vala was tired, hungry, cold, stiff, sore and very, very thirsty. She was entirely too old for this crap. Too bad there wasn’t going to be an eleventh hour rescue this time.
It was times like this that she really missed the other members of SG-1.
Though in reality she had survived relatively well on her own without them. Cam had been the last to die, and that had been ten years ago. Another year would mark twenty years since Daniel’s death - not that she would live to see that anniversary (being burned to death had its uses). Sam, Teal’c, General Landry and even Jack O’Neill had not survived the initial invasion of Earth.
She was terribly lonely.
“Vala.”
Though not terribly alone.
“Vala.”
She ignored him. He had spent the past two days whispering in her ear, invisible but not silent.
“Vala.”
“I’m not listening.”
There was a silence and she could picture him standing in front of her, arms crossed as he frowned and waited for her to respond. But she had not survived this long without learning patience.
“Vala.” And it was a small victory that she could out-stubborn an ascended being.
“Go away, Daniel,” she said firmly.
“No,” he said.
A soft breeze rushed past her, ruffling her hair - short and mostly grey - brushing down her arms in a way that was inexplicably a caress not unlike one he might have given her while he was still living. Nothing else stirred, not even the dust she sat in.
“I can’t do it, you know,” she said conversationally. “I can’t ascend.”
“Of course you can,” he said firmly, in that tone that defied disbelief, but then he’d always had far more faith in her than she ever thought she deserved.
Again there was a soft brush of air, this time against her cheek, and one that felt remarkably like lips pressing against her own.
“Daniel.” Despite her best efforts, there was ragged edge to her tone, something that could almost be pleading. “I’m tired, can’t you just leave me to die in peace? Haven’t I fought hard enough?”
“We’re losing,” he said softly.
“No, Daniel, we’re not. We’ve already lost. We lost a very, very long time ago.”
“If you think that, then why are you being burned for heresy?”
“You know I was never very good at blind faith. Or following the rules.”
There was something that could have been an exasperated sigh, but somehow that seemed beneath someone who was meant to be ascended.
“I’ve been watching you, you know,” he said. And she could almost see that endless look in his eyes, as if he were standing right in front of her.
“Well, that’s just creepy,” she retorted. Then, despite everything, she smirked. “Did you see me with all of them? All the other…” she paused for dramatic effect, “men? What about Cam, did you see me with Cam?” Admittedly that had lasted a very short time before they’d both decided it was a Very Bad Idea. “What about Ebias? Hasan?”
“Vala.”
“Joab? Leo?”
“Vala.”
“Oh, I’m not done yet.”
“Vala. It never mattered to me who you were with.” His tone was hardly filled with jealous rage - unbecoming in an ascended being - but there was enough distaste in the last word to satisfy a small amount of the abandonment she’d felt as his widow. But he was continuing, “I only cared that you were safe.”
She noticed he didn’t say happy, but then that would have been more than even he could have reasonably expected given…well, given the Ori.
“You and…”
“Mom?”
At the quiet whisper, she could literally feel him dissipate - quite a feat for a being who was completely invisible and completely incorporeal.
To her growing horror the shadows around her began to shift into solid shapes. Five of them. All five of them.
She and Daniel had had two sons - Jonathon and Samuel. Their third child, the daughter he’d so desperately wanted had died unborn in the same attack that had killed him. She’d called the girl Sha’re, and then felt guilty for giving a dead child a dead woman’s name, but she’d been unable to give her another one.
Mimi was Cam’s daughter, curly red hair and a mouth that should have been constantly smiling, but given to a child raised in too much hardship. He’d been unclear about who her mother was and none of the rest of them had ever felt like pressing.
Talia and Benj were orphans they’d collected on some world that had been devastated by the Ori.
They’d raised them on the run, dodging from one resistance planet to the next, trying to stay ahead of their enemy. She and Daniel and Cam. And then her and Cam, and then just her - the woman whose previous legacy had been Adria.
But she must have done something right, because here they were - strong soldiers every one of them - fighting the Ori.
Jonathon was kneeling in front of her, trying to pry open the shackles before she could blink. She yanked her arm out of his grip.
“What are you doing here?” she said in a harsh whisper, making sure to include all of them in her glare. “You think I’m not being watched? You think they aren’t waiting to arrest anyone who helps me? I’m bait.”
“Mom, please!” this from Samuel.
“Let us save you,” pleaded Mimi. “We have a ship. It’s just outside the village. We just have to get there and we’re free.”
“Oh, Mimi, it’s not going to work like that. Not anymore. They’re not going to let me escape - not anymore. I’m a dead woman.” In many ways the fire was just part of a ceremony. In the years since they’d managed to acquire three galaxies and wipe out most of the Ancients, the Ori had grown so very powerful. They weren’t omniscient, but they were close.
In fact, it was a wonder they hadn’t grabbed her children yet. It was a wonder they hadn’t stopped Daniel from talking to her.
Maybe this was all part of some higher plan. Maybe they were just toying with them all.
“Please.” Talia knelt beside her, and took her hand while Jonathon reached for the other once again. “Just let us help you.”
“You can’t,” she said as her eyes began to burn. “I’m lost.” She yanked her arm from Jonathon, but lifted it to stroke a hand down his cheek. “I don’t think I could bear it if you were lost too.” Hot, wet tears spilled over and down her own cheeks as she encountered dampness on her son’s.
Talia was clinging to her hand so tightly it hurt. At least one of the others were sniffling.
“Mom.”
“No.”
“You need to listen to your mother.”
All six of them started at the new voice, ringing and clear, lacking the hush of the rest, and turned to see a new figure striding forward, one who almost seemed to shed his own light.
In the two decades since she’d last seen him, she’d forgotten how much he looked like her little Sam. Well, her big Sam, now.
Instantly, there were five weapons trained on Daniel, not that he seemed bothered. Of course none of the weapons could do much damage. They’d never found anything that could destroy an ascended being, despite myth and rumours that ran far and wide.
She was surprised none of them picked up on his resemblance to Samuel, but then that was the only way they would have recognised them. It was too dangerous to have anything like a photograph and, barring Jonathon, all of them had been too young to have any clear memories of him.
It was Jonathon who stood now, and took a tentative step forward. “Dad?” he asked incredulously.
“Hello, Jonathon,” Daniel replied. His eyes swept across the group, settling on Vala’s own for a moment. “Mimi…Benj…Talia…Samuel.”
“But you’re dead!” protested Benj. The youngest and the one, along with Talia, who had already lost four parents - three before they were old enough to remember - and were about to lose another.
“Not quite,” said Daniel.
“He’s ascended,” answered Vala, since he seemed to have picked up that annoying habit of being as obscure as possible.
“Ascended?” Jonathon took another step forward. Ah, Jonathon, her boy, her angry, angry little boy. Angry at the Ori. Angry at the unfairness. Angry at the universe. “Then why don’t you do something to help.”
“I can’t,” he said.
“Can’t or won’t?” Now Talia was standing and moving forward.
“Can’t,” said Vala with certainty. Greeted with five sceptical stares - they knew her general opinion of the ascended. “I’ve seen what happens to ascended who try to interfere. They’re usually stopped and punished for far less. In fact,” she paused and turned to Daniel, “I’m surprised they let you get this far.”
He shrugged. “I haven’t broken any rules yet. Speaking of which...those have changed a little.”
“Oh, and Ori have no problem with it?” she said.
“I may have…some of the others running interference for me.” She spared a moment to wonder who these ‘others’ were and why they might help, before noticing how very guilty he looked, much more than the act warranted.
It wasn’t often she got to catch him out in some wrong doing - far too often it was the other way around - so despite the situation she couldn’t help feeling a little bit gleeful.
“Daniel, what are you doing?”
“What does it matter what he’s doing?” snapped Jonathon. “If he’s not going to help, then what does it matter? Come on, there’s no one here to stop us, Mom, we can get you out of here.”
“No!” Both her and Daniel’s tones’ rang with desperation.
“And why not? There are no Ancients here right now. No Ori. Not even a damned Prior. Why would you stop us from saving her?” Jonathon advanced until he was almost nose to nose with his father. Daniel flinched slightly at the anger directed at him, and took a step back - though she suspected that was more so he could see all of them.
“Because, if you save her, I won’t be able to protect you!”
Aha! “That’s what you’re doing, isn’t it?” she asked. “Shielding us? Or them, rather?” She was marked now, she doubted there was anything he could do, even if he wasn’t bound by the laws of the Ancients.
Before he could answer though, Jonathon was shouting again. “Why? Why would you bother? It’s not like you did us any good when you were alive!”
“Because it’s the only way I could!” cried Daniel.
She’d always wondered firstly why he would ascend when he knew it would mean nothing more than an eternity of frustration as he watched those he loved hurt, unable to do much to help. And secondly why he’d never shown himself, not even to offer some meagre comfort.
Well, now she had her answers: it was an act of desperation. Probably equal to that of the Ancients who allowed him to ascend in the first place.
She wasn’t allowed to dwell on the revelation, however. Jonathon was still at it. “None of us asked for your protection!”
Daniel met her eyes, helplessly.
She opened her mouth to try and stem the flood of rage, but knew from experience he was unlikely to listen.
Samuel got in first. “That’s enough! Come on, let’s get Mom and go.” He’d clearly decided that his father wasn’t going to stop them, or that they could get past him.
Vala knew better.
“I said NO!” In the space of a heartbeat all five of the children were disarmed, and pushed back, towards the way they came.
It was completely uncharacteristic of Daniel, and only served to highlight just how desperate he really was.
“Daniel…”
“Vala, please,” he begged. He was saving them the only way he could see - her by ascension, their children by attempting to chase them off. She nodded, and turned to look at her son. The last time she would have the opportunity to see him, any of them.
“Jonathon, I want you to take the others and go. Your father’s right. You can’t save me, only condemn yourselves.”
“Mom?”
“It’s all right, Talia. I’ll be fine.” Her words were once again belied by the tears spilling over.
In the end they went, Samuel almost needing to be dragged but they went. It was long minutes after they disappeared into the darkness before Daniel relaxed. “They’re gone. Not far, but far enough.”
Vala allowed herself to relax minutely. “Will you sit with me?”
“Of course.” He came over and sat beside her, wrapped an arm around her waist, so she could settle against him, and pressed a kiss to her temple.
“This is all your great plan to get me alone, isn’t it?” she asked teasingly.
His lips quirked up. “You wish.”
“How much of this is real?” she asked after a moment.
“It’s not a hallucination,” he said frowning.
She shook her head. “No…unless you have taken human form…” he shook his head quickly. “Then I shouldn’t be able to touch you.”
“Special rules.”
She wasn’t accepting half answers. Not tonight. “What special rules?”
He smiled enigmatically. “Telekinesis.”
“Really?” Her previous experiences with telekinesis were the ripping weapons from people hands, picking them up and choking them kind - Adria’s tricks. This was much more intimate. She could feel warmth and hard muscle against her side, she could feel the gentle brush of finger tips against her arm. And moments later when he dipped his head and pressed his lips to her own, real or not, it melted her insides and curled her toes.
But then if anyone could achieve that degree of control, it would be Daniel.
“All right, you can ascend me now,” she told him, voice slightly breathless.
He chuckled, then sobered. “It’s going to be painful,” he told her, ever gentle.
“I’ve burned to death before.”
He nodded slowly, and then said briskly, “Right then, lets get started.”
In the morning the Prior came, and the villagers - jeering and catcalling. From their reactions she could tell none of them saw Daniel, still sitting with her, still holding her. He whispered words of assurance and love, calming her when they poured the fire.
He’d nearly burned to death with her once. He knew what it was like.
She’d forgotten just how painful it was, how much you wanted to scream because you had no other outlet. She nearly lost the focus that she had worked so hard to build. But in the end, at the last moment she was able to let go.
******