FIC: Untitled 6/?
Chapter 6
It was different, waking up next to Vala two mornings in a row. He liked it though, even though for some reason her hair always seemed to make it into his mouth. He was usually the first one up, allowing Vala to sleep a few more minutes while he took a shower, but he decided to take some time to enjoy this. He hadn't made enough time just to enjoy the feeling of belonging it brought before. Back then he had just pushed it aside and went along in his day. He had taken it for granted that they had all the time in the world do the simple things. Dying on someone changed the way you thought about that and considering he had died at least four times by now, he defiantly should have learned something by now.
He brushed back her hair so it was out of his face and watched her as she slept. It had been such a long time since he had a true and honest girlfriend that he could barely remember what it was like but he could remember waking up with Sha're. Granted, in that relationship Share was the first to rise, usually already done with a bunch of things before he even raised his head off the pillow. Once and awhile she would still be in bed when awoke, but rarely. Vala on the other hand was almost always still asleep when he awoke and usually whined a bit before she got out of bed.
It was amazing at times how similar the women were just as much as how different they were. Physically, they only had their hair in common. Both had beautiful rich black hair. However Sha're had brown eyes while Vala had a blue-grey color. Vala was taller and built to fight. Sha're was not a fragile creature, but she was more so then Vala. They were both hosts, both had fought against their prison with Sha're only getting a reprieve while Vala got a lucky break thanks to the Tok'ra. He remembered feeling a little bit angry that she had gotten free while Sha're had not but that feeling soon fell away. He couldn't wish more years on Vala anymore then he could take some away. She had never spoken about her years of a host before her memory was lost but he had managed to get a few words out of her that had been confirmed by other sources.
During the last year of her life, Qetesh had paid physically for her crimes against the people who had worshiped her for decades. Her latest host, Vala, had suffered the consequences since it was her body and according to a Tok'ra who had been able to give him the information about Vala's predicament she hadn't been lying about being stoned. She had been. Tortured too, only still containing Qetesh which had given her some relief but not much as time wore on. The Goa’uld had healed her only for it to start again. Finally Qetesh was so weak she couldn't heal Vala all that much and by the time the Tok'ra arrived to remove her, she was almost dead anyway with Vala surely to follow had they not had a sarcophagus nearby. It managed to heal Vala but not her emotional state.
It was funny about Vala and her lies...she never truly lied. She twisted the truth completely and exaggerated quite often but there was always at least a bit of truth in what she was saying. At least about her past as a goa’uld. Everything else though was fair game. That was part of the reason he wasn't too keen on being involved with her when they had started. He was always afraid that she was just playing him, trying to get her way again. It took him awhile before he realized that Vala wasn't like that. For as much as she lied, she never used her relationships with the people on base for her own gain. Well, mostly. She used her relationship with him to get to Avalon, but that was about as far as he remembered. And that was before they were really friends.
They had finally gotten together as Vala had wanted them to be a few days after the Odyssey disaster. He had been a jerk that day to pretty much everyone but more so to Vala and had gotten his butt chewed off by Sam later for it. Not that he didn't have his reasons, he did. But he didn't need to take his frustrations on Vala or the others. So he had taken a weekend off and spent some time alone in his apartment, trying to regroup. The whole situation with the Ori had been getting to him and he just needed some time to figure himself out.
Vala had been waiting for him at the front gate when he arrived back Monday morning with a look on her face that would have scared most men but he was long since used to it if not immune. She had been quite angry. He hadn't told anyone what he was doing, and apparently ignoring their calls was not a good idea. Had he not come in that morning they were going to go to see him. It was only by Cameron's arguing that he needed some time off that had kept the others from being too worried and come rushing out. Vala most of all.
And he had laughed, which apparently was the wrong thing to do in that situation. Vala had gotten even madder and suddenly they had an all out fight. And fighting had lead...to other things one really shouldn't do while at work. Luckily no one mentioned it later, although he could tell by Cameron's grin that most of them realized what had happened. Apparently everyone but Daniel had expected it. He had been even more surprised though that Vala didn't mention it to anyone like she did before. Apparently imaginary sex was ok to let the world know about but once it actually did happen, she was not a kiss and tell type of person.
For three weeks they had a relationship. Three weeks before he had become a prior due to a stupid mistake he had made while trying to activate the weapon. It hadn’t been ‘official’, they hadn’t told anyone although he was pretty sure they knew from the way everyone acted. Though it wasn’t that different then what they had acted before they actually got together. They had been ‘Daniel and Vala’ pretty much since she first stepped through the gate with the tablet. But they had stopped joking about it after that point. Jack had only teased him a little once he had found out (living in Washington had left him out of the loop and he caught on a little later then the rest). It had been different, but very nice. And then he had to go and die.
He could still remember dying in Vala's arms, his pain and her tears. He didn't remember a thing else till three months later when he found himself waking up next to a gate with no idea how he got there. Vala had avoided him for days after he had returned; only seeing him during initial debriefing and then only shortly since she excused herself out at the half-way point to check on some personal assignment she was doing. Cameron had been reluctant to say anything but he had finally told Daniel what had happened after much asking. How he had been a Prior and Vala was not handling that particular fact very well. Though she had said she hadn't thought of it as a betrayal, he couldn't help but feel like he had betrayed her in some way. And he couldn’t remember a thing and hadn’t yet, which brought more of his less pleasing memories of the aftermath of being ascended.
He didn't see her till a week after his return, and all she did was stare at him, a sad look on her face. No jokes, no witty remarks. Just a solemn hello and how are you. It had hurt to be at that stage but he had been so grateful to see her again, to know she didn't completely hate him for something that hadn't been completely his fault. It had taken a few months but they had finally been back to the friend status before this mission.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked with a sleepy voice. He had been so caught up in his memories he hadn’t noticed her start to wake up. He looked over at her, seeing her blink rapidly trying to wake up fully. She cuddled closer to him and shut her eyes again, clearly deciding to wait for the waking up part. He kissed her forehead. “You seem lost in thought."
"Just thinking about things, about how it was when I got back." Her body tensed slightly but she didn't move away which he supposed was a good sign for him. Vala had a tendency to take a mile back when she didn't want to deal with something.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry for treating you the way I did. It wasn't about you, not in the sense you may be thinking."
"I thought you felt betrayed."
"No, it wasn't your fault. You came back and that is all that matters." She pulled him closer to her as if trying to make sure he couldn’t leave again.
"Are you going to tell me why you avoided me then, if not angry at me?”
"I was angry with myself more then you. I'm not sure what Cameron and the others told you, but for weeks after you...died, I was a complete mess. All I could do was keep replaying that scene in my mind, the one where you died and there was nothing I could do about it."
"There wasn't. It wasn't your fault. It’s my fault I died. I was the one who turned the weapon on that way."
"No, not that, but it was my fault you became a prior." He was surprised by her being so outgoing but since she wasn't looking him in the eye he knew it was hard for her to do so he said nothing on that.
"How do you think that?"
"If I hadn't left you..."
"You had no choice; you would have died if you had stayed."
"I could have taken you with me."
"And made it to the gate? I doubt it. Even if Teal’c had carried me." He reached for her chin and pulled it up so she was looking at him. "You could have done nothing more then what you did. I wouldn't want you to die just because I did."
"But I basically sent you to something worse then death."
"Blind servitude? I suppose so, but apparently I fought it and came back and without any major side effects. It's over, and you have nothing to feel guilty for."
"Neither do you, but that doesn't stop you," she said pointedly. "And I doubt I'll ever get the image of you bleeding to death out of my head." She sighed and leaned her forehead against his. "I missed this though. Waking up with you, starting the day together."
“We didn't do much of that before.”
"That's because I was dating a chronic overachiever who likes to work at least 20 hours a day if he can,” she said with a smile. “I doubt that’s changed. Tell me you haven't been up for the last half hour?"
"Well, I won't but I didn't leave the room so I haven't done any work..."
"Well," Vala started with a mischievous grin, ”I can give you something to do." Her grin faded slightly. "Daniel... Are we going to do this? The you and me thing." she continued, pointing back in forth between them.
"If you want to." He really wanted to. He wanted to take her on an actual date and actually refer to her as his girlfriend because she was and not because that was what everyone else called her. Vala rolled her eyes.
"Daniel, Darling, when have I ever not wanted this?" She did have a point. Vala had never been subtle about her feelings for him.
"Well, I want to make sure you want this, want us." She sighed and rolled closer, hugging him close to her with her head under his chin lying on his chest.
"There never was anything but an ‘us’ for me, Daniel. Even back before the bracelets forced me to spend all that time with you. I think you ruined me for anyone else back on the Prometheus, even if you do bore me sometimes,” she finished with a grin in her tone. He smiled slightly. This whole mission had turned out to be a walk down memory lane with her. Things kept reminding them of parts of their past together and he supposed it was a good place to start anew, knowing what had been.
"I love you." She smiled into his chest. She looked up at him before speaking taking a moment just to watch him. He was getting a little worried that he had said it too soon when she finally spoke.
"I know." She looked like she was about to say something else when they heard a boom of someone falling off the bed down the hall. He sighed and she shook her head. Cameron was awake. "I suppose we should check on him," she said with a sigh. “He didn’t look so good last night.”
"He's a big boy now."
"I know, but I'm going to hen mother him still." He laughed silently. She frowned.
"It's Mother-hen."
"Oh, well you can't expect me to get them all right, darling." With that she was out of bed and towards the shower. She paused at the door way to the master suite's bathroom and looked at him. Her eyebrow raised in invitation, as if she was wondering why he was still there and not coming with her.
He got the message.
~*~
Cameron hated sunlight. At least this morning he hated sunlight with a passion like no other. Whatever hangover he had had during his forty years of life, it could not compare to what he had now. He felt like he had just been taken apart, studied and reassembled for shipping.
He crawled out of bed, barely missing the glass of water and pain meds someone had left for him. Quickly taking them, he crawled to the window and shut the blinds, sighing in relief as some of the pain subsided with the loss of light.
He was never ever going to drink another Ranasha in his life.
He got back into bed. It was a world holiday so he was going to take a break. He could have worked if he wanted to since both of his occupations on this planet took place in well lit areas. And he was going to avoid light if he could help it.
He could remember very little from the night before. That was one of the reasons he never did a lot of drinking. The few times he actually overindulged he woke up with a lack of memories. At least this time he was alone.
He could hear small noises that let him know that Daniel and Vala were preparing for their day. Luckily for him they weren’t loud enough to add to his headache. The pain medication was helping and slowly he could feel like himself again. But it was taking along time.
He did remember dreaming last night of Carolyn and the future.
They had been at his grandmother’s, and he could hear the others in the background, playing around the pond behind her house. Carolyn and himself were sitting on the porch, on an old bench swing. He had one bare foot on the floor, slowly rocking them while the other lay across the bench beside hers. She was leaned back against his chest with her eyes closed. She had on an old sundress, slightly altered to fit her growing size. On her hand she wore his grandmother’s wedding ring.
“What do you think of Madison if it’s a girl?”
“Sounds ok, except her initials are going to be MM. Although it would be cute with Katie being called Kit-Kat and all.”
“True.”
“We still have awhile before we have to have the name.”
“Doesn’t mean we can’t start.”
“I suppose that is true. How about Rosalie? It was my mom’s name. We can name her after both our moms if we want.”
“Rosalie Constance Lam Mitchell,” Carolyn tried out. “Sounds great to me. Although it’s a pretty hefty name.”
“She’ll grow into it. I suppose we should think of an option if it was a boy.” Cameron hadn’t gone against her when she decided to wait till the baby was born to find out its gender but sometimes he wished they had.
“John Phillip Arthur George!” Carolyn stated her face very serious. However she cracked up a second after he did.
“Talk about your hefty names.” He smiled down at her and had another one of those moments that made him very glad he was with this woman. She made crazy jokes like that that no one would really understand but him.
“We could just name him after our fathers since we named Rosie after our mothers.”
“David Henry?”
“Your father’s name was David? I thought it was Michael?”
“David Michael Mitchell III”
“We are not naming him that then. Already too many people with the name David. And I’m not sure I want to name our son after my father.”
They continued to pass names through, laughing at some and wondering at others but it was just the simple feel of a warm and quiet Carolina afternoon spent with her that engulfed him as he woke up.
He wanted to go back now. It was a happy dream. Sure, it did cause him to wonder what on earth was in those Ranashas but he had enjoyed the dream.
“How are you feeling?” He cracked his eyes open slightly to see Vala peering into the room, slivers of painful light coming around her. Her hair was still wet, as if she had just gotten out of the shower. He could hear Daniel moving around in the background.
“Like I have been used as a science experiment and someone forgot to clean up.”
“Well, I’ll have Lorian bring some of her soup up. I’ve heard it cures all ills.”
“Ok, thanks Val.”
“No problem.”
“Come on Madie!” Cameron cheered from the sidelines. Madie smiled from her place on the batting area. Her softball team was winning the game and if the succeeded in winning they would be going to the state championship for their age group. Katie was a few feet away, on first base waiting for Madie to hit the ball. Both girls excelled at the game.
Beside Cameron sat Daniel and Carolyn. Vala hadn’t been able to make it to the game as she and Sam had been asked to broker a treaty with a culture that was matriarchal and would prefer talking to females then the male dignitaries that were sent. Neither knew why they hadn’t just sent some female negotiators.
Madie managed to hit the ball and have it far enough that Katie made it to third and she to second before the other team managed to get the ball.
“Did she talk to you about joining the middle school varsity team, Cam?” Daniel asked. This would be their last year in elementary league, with the girls going into seventh grade the following year. Madie had been thinking about continuing with the sport and joining the middle school’s team. Playing Varsity meant she would be playing with girls older then her but she was good enough at the sport that she would do fine.
“Yeah, she’s not sure. She wanted to see what Katie wanted to do.” Cameron was pretty sure that Katie wasn’t continuing. Not that the girl was bad, but she wasn’t as into sports as Madie was. She was more of an academic like her dad.
“Well, Vala says Katie’s thinking about continuing. She’s not sure yet. Nick wants to continue on his sports team though and the two of them have always done things together. I think that’s what is keeping her from deciding.”
“Ah, the twin dynamic. Where is Nick anyway?”
“Had team practice at the same time as the game. Teal’c went with him, wanting to observe.”
“That should be interesting” Carolyn commented with a smile. The children of the SG-1 members all adored Teal’c but none more the Nick and Jack’s daughter Gracie. To have him watch his game, Nick would have to be ecstatic and Gracie a little jealous as Teal’c had not yet had an opportunity to come to one of her events.
~*~
“You know, I’m not sure Cameron’s is completely ok after last night.” Vala commented as she shifted through yet another pile of books and old documents. “He wasn’t very animated when I was talking to him.”
“He’s got a hangover.”
“I’ve seen him with a hangover, Daniel, and this was worse.” She tossed aside a book on the genetics of the henrow species. She neither wanted to find out what a Henrow was or how its genetics worked. From the picture on the front it was on of the ugliest animals on the planet. It appeared to be a mix of a whale, lobster and Cassie’s pet dog. “I’m just worried that perhaps there was something in there that would make him sick. I mean there could be tons of things here that you wouldn’t find on earth.” She picked up another book. “Like a Fural Worbit.”
“A Fural Worbit. Looks like a rabbit but apparently is an arachnid.”
“That is just…scary.”
“Indeed.”
“We’ll check in on him in an hour. I’m sure he’s fine.”
“Ok, but I’m taking some of Lorian’s soup. He looks like he could use some.”
“Probably could.” They continued working in silence, comfortable with each other, picking up and discarding books that would be no use to them in their gate research. It continued this way for about twenty minutes when Daniel came across a certain book.
Hereditary Personality: How genes affect who we are by Vala Maldoran. He flipped through it for a few minutes, wondering at it. To be honest he rarely if ever thought of what Vala did before she was a host. He wondered about her life, certainly but not her profession. There was a part of him that kind of always believed she had always been the way she was. Thinking of her as a scientist was strange. But then again she’d probably look cute in those lab glasses Sam liked to wear.
“Hey Vala, look at this.” She turned to face him and took the book off him, surprise entering her face as she read the title and author.
“I don’t remember writing this.” She paused and then rolled her eyes at herself. “Of course I don’t remember writing this. If I can’t remember half my past why would I remember a paper I wrote during my apprenticeship.”
Daniel didn’t say anything. It was true enough she was not regaining a lot of her memories and he didn’t need to say anything to her because she had accepted that she might never regain some for them. But she had regained quite a few while staying here the last couple of weeks. Actually, quite alot had been improved over the last couple weeks, not just her memory.
~*~
“We believe the problem resides in the DHD of the Stargate on Athoria. It is not allowing the Stargate to retain a viable amount of energy that would allow it to open up a wormhole,” Sam started as she briefed a new team of specialists along with Dr. Lee. Dr. Zelenka had to return to Atlantis to solve a crisis there.
“Traditionally, the Stargate would have a back up of power that would energize the gate for a wormhole formation. However it seems not to hold on this particular gate as well as most gates. It does have a back log of energy, but it gets depleted faster and takes longer to energize. This leaves long-term blackouts for outgoing wormholes. Incoming Wormholes can be established but with only the incoming gate’s power.”
“What about the DHD repairs done nine years ago? Do we still have those plans and would they work on this planet’s DHD,” asked one technician.
“The plans are in the computer system so you will all be able to access them on any terminal within the science department. However those were meant for a DHD which locked in the middle of a dialing sequence. We were completely finished dialing and had two people through the get before the gate lost power and shut down,” Sam answered. It was a good question, though and brought up some of her own. “However we may be able to use a similar procedure.”
“Have we tried doing a system analysis on the failed DHD?”
“We did not the equipment necessary for such a task. We were there for negotiations and did not expect a power failure,” Teal’c answered. “The people of the planet have recorded the failures and did not expect another failure for several months.”
“Any more questions?” When no one said anything, most of them writing notations on the provided tablets, she dismissed the group and settled down into a chair. She hoped the problem would be solved soon. The first of the scheduled check-ups was in a week and she hoped to have at least one complete plan of action done.
“Are you alright, Colonel Carter?”
“I’m fine, thanks for asking Teal’c. Just a little worn out.” Spending as much time as possible (or as allowed) on the DHD problem plus the lack of energy due to her pregnancy was making her tired sooner then usual. She could really use a nap but knew she had no time for it now.
“Perhaps you should rest and allow the newer minds dwell on the problem at hand. They will come if they need questions answered.”
“Teal’c is right, Carter.” Landry walked into the room carrying several folders. “You are on restricted duty and you were supposed to be off today. You were supposed to be off yesterday as well.”
“Sir, with this going on...”
“Yes, I know. You want to be here. And that is why I’m not sending you home, just to the quarters set aside for you here on base. Either way, Carolyn would like to see you.”
~*~
Sam stepped into the infirmary, instinctively going towards where Janet’s old office was. Even three years after Janet’s death she still walked there when she wasn’t paying attention. She missed her friend and wished she was there to share all that was happening around her.
She turned around and headed the opposite direction. Carolyn had moved the office, feeling as if she was intruding by staying where Janet had been heading the infirmary for seven years. Her office was left of the long term infirmary rooms instead of inside the main infirmary area.
Carolyn was at her desk, filling out some information in one of the folders that littered her desk. She didn’t notice Sam come in and Sam didn’t say anything for awhile just watching the doctor as she scribbled.
Carolyn had become a friend, a good friend even. In a way, it was her and Vala that were Sam’s only real friends of the female gender now. It was mostly Vala’s doing. She had been the one who had decided to have a girl’s movie night and convinced both Carolyn and Sam to come. She had seen it on TV and decided she wanted one of her own. It had been so much fun to watch Down with Love with Vala. Her commentary of the movie alone made it worth it and she had gotten to know Carolyn. She finally felt like she could befriend the women who held her late friend’s role.
“Carolyn?” Sam decided it was probably better to get this over with. Carolyn looked up in surprise but then gave Sam a smile.
“Ah, I see the General gave you my message.” While the relationship between Landry and Carolyn was improving, there was still much distance to cross. Calling him a general really had nothing to do with proper title but more with the fact that Carolyn was used to putting him at a distance.
“Yeah, he did.”
“I got the vitamins I wanted you to take. They had to be sent in because there are some vitamins I wanted that don’t usually get sold as pre-natal. I just wanted to cover the bases because of the wear your body may be getting from gate travel.”
“Understandable,” she responded, taking the large white container that held the vitamins. “How are you feeling by the way, I know the last couple weeks haven’t been easy on you.” And they hadn’t. She had six different teams come in with medical emergencies. Most of the minor thank goodness, but it had kept her busy. Plus she seemed a little off beyond that.
“Fine.” She sighed. She would have to speak about Cameron because Sam would know that would affect her and not let it go. “I just wish I hadn’t left things with Cameron as bad as they were when he left.”
“He’s coming back, Caro.”
“I know, but there has been a lot of time to dwell on our last meeting and I’m afraid I won’t be able to correct things when he gets back. I don’t think I phrased things in the way I should have.” Sam sat down, feeling it was Carolyn’s time to express things. Out of the three of them Carolyn was the most reluctant to reveal anything. It had taken Vala and her two weeks to get Carolyn to admit she was seeing Cameron.
“What did you say?”
“I broke it off.”
“You…broke up with him? Why?”
“I didn’t think it was a good idea for him.”
“To date you? Why on earth would it be a bad idea?”
“I am technically his boss’s daughter. People are going to see it as him trying to get special treatment and I don’t want anyone to think he would do that.”
“I doubt anyone would think that. Beside there is the fact that only a few people even know your Landry’s daughter.” Sam paused to take Carolyn’s hand. “I’m sure Cameron will understand.”
“Will he? He wanted to take me to see his grandmother.” Sam was surprised. She knew that Cameron had taken the relationship seriously but she wasn’t aware he was planning on introducing Carolyn to his Nana. So far only Vala had met the women but from what she had heard Cam held a lot in her opinion. In his case, this was taking the girl home to meet the parents. She hadn’t known that Cameron had been ready for that yet.
“I wasn’t aware he was that serious about it yet.”
“Neither was I.”