Solitudes snipit
Despite being on Earth for almost four months, Vala still wasn’t accustomed to being somewhere and calling it home. Not leaving. She wasn’t used to having a family, even it was an assembled one. So as the others continued to play in the house, watching some kind of movie…The Gobfather or something that. Godfather? It didn’t matter because she wasn’t all that interested and she needed to get out of there before she hyperventilated.
She stood outside, sitting on the small platform next to the water. She believed someone called it a dock. She hadn’t been near fresh water areas in a very long time and she was starting to forget what it felt like to be in a place like this. Her home world had been much like earth and even though she claimed to Daniel that she had been there, she really hadn’t. Not the actual planet where she grew up. She could never go back, not now, not after what she had done the last time she had been there. But Earth was starting to remind her of it, what little of the outside she got to see.
She looked up at the stars, wrapping her arms around herself as she started to feel the slight chill in the air. She didn’t know the constellations here, their names or their stories but she imagined the ones from when she was a little girl. Remembering how her father would take her to the top of the hill outside their small village and explain to her each of the star constellations, and where they were in the universe. He would tell her of the Stargate and how it would travel to those stars and there were millions of life forms all around them.
She wondered how it was here on earth, with no knowledge of the Stargate. She had seen some of the papers when the group had gone into town and had laughed at some of the alien stories, but it seemed those magazines were mostly fun anyway and only a few believed them to be fact.
“You’re going to freeze out here,” came a voice as a jacket surrounded her. Daniel moved around and set down on the deck beside her. “Enjoying the view?”
Vala made a non-committal noise and looked back up at the stars, drawing his jacket closer around. It was indeed warmer and smelled slightly like him. It was comforting. Daniel had only arrived that afternoon, having spent the last week in England browsing a library. She had missed him. She still felt more comfortable with him then with the others, although she was certainly adjusting. But Daniel knew her better then the others, and she trusted him more. She had a sneaking feeling that all her games and such were starting to become true and less playing around and she also knew that Daniel would never know the difference if she did have a crush on him. But beyond that, he was her friend, and at the moment he was the only one who truly was.
“I’m trying to figure out your constellations.” That wasn’t the true reason she was out here, and he probably knew it too but he said nothing in the pause between her words. “Do you have stories about them? We did on my homeworld. Usually to tell moral stories and such.”
“Yeah, we do.” He leaned back and put his hands behind his head. “The Ancient cultures made up stories to explain the stars and how they were laid out. They didn’t really understand there was something up there.” She laid back and closer to him, turning slightly so she could look at him.
“Tell me one of them.” He smiled and looked at the sky for a moment, and pointed to one near the tree line on the other side of the large pond.
“That one is Cygnus, which is supposed to be a swan. There are many stories about him, but my favorite is where Cygnus was a friend of the son of Apollo. Phaethon fell into one of the rivers of the underworld and Cygnus tried to save him. Zeus made him into a swan in reward for his efforts.” Daniel paused. While he had been taking, she had moved over and the two were right next to each other. “I guess it doesn’t seem as great when you know half these stories were real and they were qou’ald.” He moved his arms, wrapping one around her and pulled her closer.
“Not always. I read some of your mythology books and I know some of the information about Qetesh is different in reality. Mythology has her as having a son. Qetesh, thank god, was never given the chance to procreate.”
“She was a queen?” Vala nodded.
“Apparently, the host and symbiote have to be together for a certain length of time before a successful…birth…can happen. I was rescued before that time came.” Daniel was silent. She had also been reading the old mission files, mostly to figure out references when they were made and not have to rely on Cameron or Daniel to explain them to her. She had gotten through two years so far and remembered the Hathor incident well because she had to leave the file and go beat up the punching bag for a few minutes when she read what the former goddess had done to her new friends. She hadn’t had much involvement with Jack O’Neill but she was pretty sure becoming a Jaffa was not on his dreams list. And what she did to Daniel had made her the maddest. Thank goodness nothing too serious had happened to Sam or Teal’c or her anger would have been greater and she would no doubt owe the SGC some gym equipment. Either way, she didn’t want to tell Daniel she knew about it and how angry he was because he would shrug and say it was a long time ago like he always did when she tried to discuss what happened on the Prometheus. So it was change the subject time. But Daniel spoke up before she could say anything.
“You know, sometimes I still find it hard to imagine you as a gou’ald, even after seeing you dressed as one on that one planet. Hell, sometimes I look at you and find it hard to remember you’re not from earth and I have no idea why. You certainly are adjusting faster then Teal’c did when first came here.” Vala couldn’t answer why she had a quicker adaptation to Earth society then the Jaffa. She just waited a second to see if he was going to say anything before changing the subject.
“So how was the book browsing?” Daniel’s face lit in a smile for a second and she smiled, even though she knew the next twenty minutes would be all about books and a lot of things she rarely cared about. Although she was starting to, especially after a couple of months of being in Daniel’s office seeing how passionate about it he was. And she was enjoying the back story about King Arthur and the Knights.
~*~
“They have got to be freezing out there,” Cameron noted as he looked out the window again at the two laying by the pond. While it was still early fall, the summer heat was fading away and the area was usually pretty chilly at night. He had seen Vala go out earlier and had been the one to point Daniel had wondered where she went to. He wondered if Daniel even knew how much he tended to stick with Vala and not just in instances where Vala could cause trouble.
“They should come in soon. I think Vala was feeling a little cooped in,” Sam responded, looking up from the crossword she and Teal’c were doing. Cameron had noticed that every once and awhile Vala got antsy and walked away from the group, even on missions. She never went far, but far enough to be solitary. She had lived a solitary life for the last five years, and who knew how many years of hell before that as Qetesh’s host so being part of the team was still something she got used to, even with all her jokes about being ‘part of the club’.
“Perhaps, if they do not wish to venture inside, we could take them a blanket.” Teal’c added helpfully, knowing that Cameron had a natural inclination to worry about those two teammates. It seemed that from the get-go, it was those two who had the tendency to fall into trouble first.
“Vala really cares for Daniel, doesn’t she?” Sam asked. Out of the four of them, she knew Vala the least and was still trying to get her bearings as far as the other woman was concerned. However, she had noticed that Vala seemed to genuinely care for her friend.
“Yeah,” Cameron answered, coming to sit at the table. “I think she kind of has a crush on him.”
“Indeed.” There were many things Cameron liked about Teal’c, and his ability to answer almost any question with that one simple word was one. “And I believe that Daniel Jackson is getting attached to Vala Mal Doran as well.” Sam smiled.
“It does seem that way, doesn’t it. “ She turned around in her seat and looked out the window. “Wish I had my camera. Jack would have loved to see this. Is he still coming tomorrow?”
“Yep.” Cameron nodded along with his words. “Called earlier to confirm. Daniel should be surprised.” Landry had already left, deciding to let the team continue to vacation alone and bond, especially the two newest members. Sam had somehow convinced Jack to join them as all of them still considered him very much a part of SG-1.
“Does Vala know? Jack has wanted to meet her for awhile. Especially after hearing what she did with the bracelets.”
“What’s this about Jack?” Daniel and Vala stood at the door, their noses slightly red from the cold.
“General O’Neill called and confirmed he’ll be here tomorrow,” Cameron replied with a quick look over at Sam for an ok to let the news out. Daniel smiled and Vala looked slightly confused as why he was coming. And no one said anything as Daniel pulled Vala with him over to the couch near the fireplace while continuing to ask questions about when Jack was arriving.
She stood outside, sitting on the small platform next to the water. She believed someone called it a dock. She hadn’t been near fresh water areas in a very long time and she was starting to forget what it felt like to be in a place like this. Her home world had been much like earth and even though she claimed to Daniel that she had been there, she really hadn’t. Not the actual planet where she grew up. She could never go back, not now, not after what she had done the last time she had been there. But Earth was starting to remind her of it, what little of the outside she got to see.
She looked up at the stars, wrapping her arms around herself as she started to feel the slight chill in the air. She didn’t know the constellations here, their names or their stories but she imagined the ones from when she was a little girl. Remembering how her father would take her to the top of the hill outside their small village and explain to her each of the star constellations, and where they were in the universe. He would tell her of the Stargate and how it would travel to those stars and there were millions of life forms all around them.
She wondered how it was here on earth, with no knowledge of the Stargate. She had seen some of the papers when the group had gone into town and had laughed at some of the alien stories, but it seemed those magazines were mostly fun anyway and only a few believed them to be fact.
“You’re going to freeze out here,” came a voice as a jacket surrounded her. Daniel moved around and set down on the deck beside her. “Enjoying the view?”
Vala made a non-committal noise and looked back up at the stars, drawing his jacket closer around. It was indeed warmer and smelled slightly like him. It was comforting. Daniel had only arrived that afternoon, having spent the last week in England browsing a library. She had missed him. She still felt more comfortable with him then with the others, although she was certainly adjusting. But Daniel knew her better then the others, and she trusted him more. She had a sneaking feeling that all her games and such were starting to become true and less playing around and she also knew that Daniel would never know the difference if she did have a crush on him. But beyond that, he was her friend, and at the moment he was the only one who truly was.
“I’m trying to figure out your constellations.” That wasn’t the true reason she was out here, and he probably knew it too but he said nothing in the pause between her words. “Do you have stories about them? We did on my homeworld. Usually to tell moral stories and such.”
“Yeah, we do.” He leaned back and put his hands behind his head. “The Ancient cultures made up stories to explain the stars and how they were laid out. They didn’t really understand there was something up there.” She laid back and closer to him, turning slightly so she could look at him.
“Tell me one of them.” He smiled and looked at the sky for a moment, and pointed to one near the tree line on the other side of the large pond.
“That one is Cygnus, which is supposed to be a swan. There are many stories about him, but my favorite is where Cygnus was a friend of the son of Apollo. Phaethon fell into one of the rivers of the underworld and Cygnus tried to save him. Zeus made him into a swan in reward for his efforts.” Daniel paused. While he had been taking, she had moved over and the two were right next to each other. “I guess it doesn’t seem as great when you know half these stories were real and they were qou’ald.” He moved his arms, wrapping one around her and pulled her closer.
“Not always. I read some of your mythology books and I know some of the information about Qetesh is different in reality. Mythology has her as having a son. Qetesh, thank god, was never given the chance to procreate.”
“She was a queen?” Vala nodded.
“Apparently, the host and symbiote have to be together for a certain length of time before a successful…birth…can happen. I was rescued before that time came.” Daniel was silent. She had also been reading the old mission files, mostly to figure out references when they were made and not have to rely on Cameron or Daniel to explain them to her. She had gotten through two years so far and remembered the Hathor incident well because she had to leave the file and go beat up the punching bag for a few minutes when she read what the former goddess had done to her new friends. She hadn’t had much involvement with Jack O’Neill but she was pretty sure becoming a Jaffa was not on his dreams list. And what she did to Daniel had made her the maddest. Thank goodness nothing too serious had happened to Sam or Teal’c or her anger would have been greater and she would no doubt owe the SGC some gym equipment. Either way, she didn’t want to tell Daniel she knew about it and how angry he was because he would shrug and say it was a long time ago like he always did when she tried to discuss what happened on the Prometheus. So it was change the subject time. But Daniel spoke up before she could say anything.
“You know, sometimes I still find it hard to imagine you as a gou’ald, even after seeing you dressed as one on that one planet. Hell, sometimes I look at you and find it hard to remember you’re not from earth and I have no idea why. You certainly are adjusting faster then Teal’c did when first came here.” Vala couldn’t answer why she had a quicker adaptation to Earth society then the Jaffa. She just waited a second to see if he was going to say anything before changing the subject.
“So how was the book browsing?” Daniel’s face lit in a smile for a second and she smiled, even though she knew the next twenty minutes would be all about books and a lot of things she rarely cared about. Although she was starting to, especially after a couple of months of being in Daniel’s office seeing how passionate about it he was. And she was enjoying the back story about King Arthur and the Knights.
~*~
“They have got to be freezing out there,” Cameron noted as he looked out the window again at the two laying by the pond. While it was still early fall, the summer heat was fading away and the area was usually pretty chilly at night. He had seen Vala go out earlier and had been the one to point Daniel had wondered where she went to. He wondered if Daniel even knew how much he tended to stick with Vala and not just in instances where Vala could cause trouble.
“They should come in soon. I think Vala was feeling a little cooped in,” Sam responded, looking up from the crossword she and Teal’c were doing. Cameron had noticed that every once and awhile Vala got antsy and walked away from the group, even on missions. She never went far, but far enough to be solitary. She had lived a solitary life for the last five years, and who knew how many years of hell before that as Qetesh’s host so being part of the team was still something she got used to, even with all her jokes about being ‘part of the club’.
“Perhaps, if they do not wish to venture inside, we could take them a blanket.” Teal’c added helpfully, knowing that Cameron had a natural inclination to worry about those two teammates. It seemed that from the get-go, it was those two who had the tendency to fall into trouble first.
“Vala really cares for Daniel, doesn’t she?” Sam asked. Out of the four of them, she knew Vala the least and was still trying to get her bearings as far as the other woman was concerned. However, she had noticed that Vala seemed to genuinely care for her friend.
“Yeah,” Cameron answered, coming to sit at the table. “I think she kind of has a crush on him.”
“Indeed.” There were many things Cameron liked about Teal’c, and his ability to answer almost any question with that one simple word was one. “And I believe that Daniel Jackson is getting attached to Vala Mal Doran as well.” Sam smiled.
“It does seem that way, doesn’t it. “ She turned around in her seat and looked out the window. “Wish I had my camera. Jack would have loved to see this. Is he still coming tomorrow?”
“Yep.” Cameron nodded along with his words. “Called earlier to confirm. Daniel should be surprised.” Landry had already left, deciding to let the team continue to vacation alone and bond, especially the two newest members. Sam had somehow convinced Jack to join them as all of them still considered him very much a part of SG-1.
“Does Vala know? Jack has wanted to meet her for awhile. Especially after hearing what she did with the bracelets.”
“What’s this about Jack?” Daniel and Vala stood at the door, their noses slightly red from the cold.
“General O’Neill called and confirmed he’ll be here tomorrow,” Cameron replied with a quick look over at Sam for an ok to let the news out. Daniel smiled and Vala looked slightly confused as why he was coming. And no one said anything as Daniel pulled Vala with him over to the couch near the fireplace while continuing to ask questions about when Jack was arriving.