New Story: Some Things Change, Some Things Remain the Same
Hello, Daniel/Vala shippers. Some of you may remember this fic from 4 years ago. I am sorry for abandoning it, but I couldn't come up with a satisfactory ending and the whole thing became overwhelming. I'd pull it out of storage on my computer every once in a while and tweak it, adding scenes and chapters here and there, but a couple months ago I got a surge of inspiration. I finally discovered how I could give the story the romantic happy ending I wanted. So now it's finished! (Well, the last 7 or 8 chapters still need some polish.)
I should note that I haven't used a beta for the extra stuff I've written over the years, though I had many beta-readers at one point 4 years ago, namely Kris, Nat, Kay, Isa, Milena, Cat, and LC (you know who you are, thanks so much for all your support, and sorry if I missed someone).
I should also note that reviews really aren't necessary, though they will be appreciated if you would like to leave one. EDIT: Nevermind, they are necessary, darnit! ;-) Just kidding. No guilt trips, friends, but if you like the story, leave me a note. :-) But I'm not likely to change anything at this point. While I understand that research is the cornerstone of any good writing, I'm quite a lazy writer. I've done the bare minimum of research to keep the story as understandable to me as possible, which means I've basically rewatched Seasons 9 and 10 over and over again. Sure there might be stuff about survival or pregnancy or alternate dimensions on the internet, but all of that usually bogs me down. So I warn you, if something just sounds wrong or stupid and you just can't get past my idiocy, move on to another fic. You could let me know, but I'll probably ignore it, or worse, feel like a complete and utter loser, and I'd rather not feel like that. Bottom line, if it bothers you, I'm sorry for being an idiot, please stop reading and move along.
So yeah, I think that's all in the way of author's notes. I suppose I should point out that I don't own any of this Stargate stuff. MGM, Brad Wright, Rob C. Cooper, and a lot of other people do. I simply adore their characters and universe and I wanted to use them to tell a story. Please enjoy. :)
TITLE: Some Things Change, Some Things Remain the Same (Chapter 1)
AUTHOR: aeryn_b
RATING: PG-13 to R (there are a few NC-17 chapters later on, I will put it in the warning)
WARNING: none
CATEGORY: Alternate Universe, Romance, Adventure, Hurt/Comfort
PAIRINGS: Daniel/Vala
CHARACTERS: Daniel Jackson, Vala Mal Doran, (appearances by Tomin, Samantha Carter, Cameron Mitchell, Teal'c)
SPOILERS/TIMELINE: "Beachhead" through Season 9 to "Flesh and Blood"
SUMMARY/PREMISE: What happens if both Vala AND Daniel are transported to the Ori galaxy at the end of "Beachhead"? How will they survive and how will they get back?
Click here to read on FFN
Click here to read on alldanielfic.com
Chapter 1
Trees. Crap. Pine trees by the look of them, but trees nonetheless. Guess we’re not on the Prometheus. Maybe, just maybe, we’re on a planet in the same system. Maybe.
Daniel crouched down to look at Vala who was lying unconscious on the ring platform, a ring platform that looked remarkably similar to the ring platform in Ver Eger. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that they were on a hill above a village, a village that looked remarkably similar to the village of Ver Eger. Hell.
Vala would not wake up no matter how much Daniel prodded her. They'd have to get out of sight quickly if they really were in an Ori village again. Daniel noticed the zat gun that Vala had brought on board the cargo ship, so he tucked it into the back of his pants and picked Vala up, juggling her a bit in his arms.
A few feet away from the platform, he heard a noise coming from the hillside. It sounded as if someone was scrambling up the hill. Daniel hesitated a moment then decided to hide rather than try to explain the situation to whoever approached.
The man appeared soon after Daniel had hidden himself and Vala behind a few trees. The villager was of average height with shaggy brown hair and a pack slung over his shoulder. He also walked with a distinct limp. The man looked over at the ring platform and seemed surprised that it was empty. He then glanced out into the forest and, apparently seeing nothing out of the ordinary, left the way he came, limping down the path to the village.
Daniel let out a sigh of relief. Now what to do? He’d need to find water and shelter before nightfall. They had two weapons, the zat and his gun, and their radios if they ever became separated. Daniel had a lighter in his pocket, a pocket knife, and two energy bars. He felt around in Vala’s pockets and found a 6-oz. water bottle and four energy bars. They’d be all right for food for a couple of days, maybe more. There wasn’t much searching he could do while carrying Vala, so he tried once more to rouse her, yet she would not awaken. They were sitting ducks here; they were going to have to leave very soon. But before that - he took out his knife and went to the tree closest to the rings. He carved out a symbol, which to anyone else would look like a semicircle. Satisfied with his message and looking once more around the forest for anyone else, he went back to Vala, picked her up and started walking in a direction away from the village.
After about ten minutes Daniel found a fallen tree trunk that offered a good hiding place for his charge. He set her down against the trunk, took off his jacket, and laid her head gently on top of it on the ground. The sun was still high in the sky, so there was little chance that he would get cold in his long-sleeved black shirt while he went searching for a stream or a spring and shelter. He also decided to leave the zat close to her in case she woke up and needed to defend herself. Then Daniel picked a direction and started walking. He told himself he would only be gone five or ten minutes, and he concentrated on walking in a straight line away from Vala so he could find his way back.
“There must be some sort of energy linkage between them. Like a chain,” Sam explained.
“Exactly, so we-”
But Mitchell interrupted her, “So we need a big ol’ set of bolt-cutters.”
“The cloaked cargo ship…” Teal’c figured it out before the rest of them, well before everyone except Vala. He should’ve known she’d figure it out.
“Vala,” Daniel called to her but when he turned to look for her, he saw that she’d already left the bridge.
“So that’s what Gerak meant,” but Daniel barely heard Mitchell; he was rushing down the hall to catch up with Vala. She had maybe a thirty- or sixty-second head start on him. It was obvious to Daniel that she was heading for the ring platform to board the cloaked cargo ship that Gerak had left to monitor the situation.
When he made it to the ring room, Vala was entering commands into the computer and the technician was lying unconscious on the floor.
“Vala, what are you doing?”
“What?” Vala looked up at Daniel with surprise. “Just stand back, Daniel. I’ll be back in a minute.” Then she pressed a final key and hopped into the center of the rings, and Daniel followed a split second behind her. “Daniel!”
“How did you get that weapon?” Daniel questioned her as they materialized aboard the cargo ship. “And why did you shoot the tech?”
“Shut up, Daniel!”
Vala knew that the pilot would be alerted to their presence by the rings’ activation, if not by their shouting, so she pulled Daniel to the side and stood in front of him, waiting for the Jaffa to open the door to the cargo hold. As soon as he did, she stunned him and stepped over the body toward the controls.
“Move him into the rings and send him back to the Prometheus. Hopefully we’ll make it…”
“Jackson, you there?” Mitchell called through the radio.
“Yeah, Vala and I are on board the cloaked cargo ship.”
“You’re going to replace the last link, aren’t you?” Sam said.
“That’s what I’m trying,” Vala replied.
“Vala, when that singularity forms, there will be a powerful shock wave. The cargo ship won’t survive,” Sam tried to explain.
“I’m counting on it. We’ll ring back before it hits, and you can all thank me immensely,” Vala kidded.
Daniel came up behind her chair. “All right, I sent him to the Prometheus. Are we there yet?” Suddenly they were jolted as if someone had just slammed on the brakes.
“Yes, we’re there.”
Flashes of electric current sparked between the consoles and the bulkheads. They both stared out into space and were shocked to see the planet actually shrinking before their eyes. Knowing it would happen was one thing, but seeing it happen was entirely too frightening. They scrambled to the back of the ship, Daniel beating Vala to the control panel.
“Get onto the platform!” he shouted.
“No, together. You’re not making any sacrifices today.”
“Of course not, now let’s go.”
Daniel pushed her into the center of the rings as power surges sparked all over the ship. The last thing he remembered was looking into Vala’s smoky blue eyes as they were engulfed in a bright light.
He’d gone over those last minutes as he walked in one direction away from Vala and then trekked back. He checked on her to make sure she was still unconscious but all right, then set his watch to walk ten minutes in the opposite direction, replaying the events that had brought them here once more.
She’d brilliantly discovered a way to destroy the Ori supergate, if it really had been destroyed. He decided to remain optimistic about that, even though it meant they’d have to find some other way back to their own galaxy without the use of a supergate.
Escape wasn’t his main concern at the moment. Water and shelter were. But questions still plagued him. The most nagging of which was why he had arrived conscious when Vala hadn’t.
Having found nothing on his present course, Daniel turned completely around and started back toward Vala. When he came up close he saw that she was still sleeping soundly, so he gathered her, the zat gun and his jacket once more into his arms and headed off away from the village. He found another good hiding spot for Vala and started searching again, walking ten minutes in one direction, then backtracking and heading ten minutes in the other.
At the end of his second search, he came upon a spring near the mouth of a cave. He bent down to the pool beneath the spring and tasted the water. It was cool and clear.
Water. Check.
Taking a closer look at the cave he noticed that it was dry, and even if he didn’t see the adventure in exploring it, they could probably sleep here and stay safe. They probably wouldn’t draw much attention either if they lit a fire here in the cave instead of out in the forest.
Okay, shelter. Check.
Looking around for any landmarks and at least noting the faint path he’d taken to get here, he retraced his steps to Vala. Unfortunately, she was still out cold. Daniel sat next to her and rested. Taking out an energy bar he munched absently and thought about what their next course of action should be.
Having finished dinner he bent to pick up his charge and trudged through the forest to their makeshift shelter. She hadn’t stirred at all since they’d arrived on this planet and Daniel fought an uneasy panic building inside him. Had something happened to her in the beam? Had one of the power surges hit her? How could he even begin to help her if he didn’t know what was wrong? Survival was one thing, but survival with an unconscious burden was another.
Not that he would abandon her. It was her quick thinking that had saved the day. What would she have done if she’d been stuck here alone? Best not think about that now. They were here together and they’d find a way out of this mess.
The light was slowly fading as he stepped into the mouth of the cavern. He set Vala down and placed the zat gun near her once more as he moved out to search for firewood and kindling.
*o^-* o^-* o^-* o^-*
Vala awoke gasping for breath, clutching her throat as she remembered the nightmare of being burned alive in the Ori galaxy, her most recent terrifying memory in a life full of them. She sat up fully and took in her surroundings. A fire that was dwindling out lit up a small cavern and the edge of a forest outside. All right, she thought, could be worse. She looked down at herself and noticed the clothes she was wearing were those of the people of Earth and the SGC, and then everything seemed to come flooding back in an instant. The prior, the planet, the nuclear bomb, the supergate forming…the cloaked cargo ship, Daniel…
“Daniel?” she asked of the cave, looking around for anything that resembled him. She noticed a Daniel-shaped bundle against the cave wall and crawled over to it. “Hey, wake up!” she said, shaking his arm.
“Wh-What?” he jerked his head up, brought out his gun with one hand, and grabbed Vala’s wrist with the other.
“It’s just me, Daniel. You were asleep and I was worried. Where are we?” she glanced around the cave.
“Finally, you’re awake!” Daniel replaced his sidearm, took his glasses off, and rubbed his eyes.
“What do you mean? How long have we been here?”
He replaced his glasses on his nose and answered, “About a day and a half, I think, and you’ve been unconscious the whole time.”
“What?!?” Vala sat back and stared blankly at the campfire burning itself out. Her inner survivalist emerged. “Step one: weapons, water and shelter, depending on weather and enemies.”
“The zat you…” Daniel inclined his head, “borrowed…and my 9-mil berretta; there’s a spring around the side of the cave; and oh, the cave,” he gestured to their surroundings.
Vala gave him a sideways glance. “You’ve done this before?”
“Not really a babe in the woods over here,” he deadpanned.
“All right. Step two: food.”
“Four power bars left, and the local squirrels aren’t too bad, but I’d rather skip to step three-”
“Determine what we have to trade or barter for what we need. If nothing can be traded away, prepare to steal what we need.”
“My step three is usually to find friendly help that will provide what we need, but it doesn’t matter, the end result is the same.”
“So, what's our immediate need?”
“To blend in with the villagers, and by the way, it’s a village so similar to Ver Eger I’d be surprised if it isn’t the same.”
“Damn,” Vala barely whispered as Daniel stretched his arms high above his head and yawned. “Hey, have you been awake this whole time?” she asked. “You look exhausted. And where’s your jacket?”
He pointed behind her. “Your pillow.”
She shook out the jacket and brought it over to Daniel. “I was unconscious, I didn’t need a pillow.”
“You would’ve gotten dirt in your hair or bugs or something, and then you would’ve complained about the dirt or the bugs.”
“I could’ve handled it, Daniel,” she shot back. He probably had been awake this whole time; he was certainly cranky.
“Well, I didn’t want to be bothered by your complaining, so just drop it, all right?”
“Fine!” She stood up dramatically, then fought a slight wave of nausea at her sudden movement. Regaining her composure, she patted Daniel on the top of his head. “You just rest your pretty little head here and I’ll go out and find some more wood for this fire.”
“No!” he shouted, a bit too quickly. “It’s dark, you could get lost, and...and I’m about ready to fall asleep again.”
“Go ahead and sleep, Daniel,” she soothed. “Everything will be all right.” She looked out into the forest, her eyes adjusting to the dim starlight. “I’ll only go out to the edge of the forest. This fire is going out and we’ll get cold-”
“No, it’s not worth it for you to get lost or hurt or something. Just, I don’t know, sit next to me or something to stay warm. Here, I might still have your silly scarf.” He rooted around in his pockets for the item and handed it back to her. “Besides, I think it’s only a few hours ’til dawn anyway.”
“Daniel,” she crouched in front of him, accepted her scarf, and looked him straight in the eyes, “as much as I’d love to sit here and cuddle with you, we need to build up this fire a little. I’ve got my radio, and you have yours too, it appears. I’ll take the zat and I’ll be gone five minutes, ten tops.”
Daniel returned her stare and Vala tried to figure out why he was being so reluctant to let her leave. He broke the gaze and shook his head. “You’ve been asleep for over thirty hours. I don’t know what happened to you in the beam, why you arrived unconscious and I didn’t. Look, there might be something wrong and I want you to stay close.”
“I feel fine, Daniel, you’re worrying too much. I realize something may have happened to me, but you’ve got to relax. Here,” she set her watch alarm for five minutes, “set your watch. I’ll be back, okay?”
Vala stood up then and there was nothing Daniel could do short of pulling her forcibly back and curling his arms around her. That was peculiar. He’d been so short with her on the Prometheus, this behavior was some turn-around. Well, she knew from experience that survival situations played on a person’s nerves. He was probably just feeling the effects of the strain and sleep-deprivation.
She only had the five minutes she’d promised him, so she walked a few steps out of the cave to find the firewood she’d wanted to get. She fought the dizziness swirling in her head for a moment, then dug around in her pocket for an energy bar, thinking she was just hungry. But once she’d finished it, she realized that hadn’t been the only problem. She came upon the spring Daniel had mentioned and took a few sips of water, and while the coolness helped a little, the dizziness and faint nausea remained. What if Daniel was right and something had happened to her in the matter stream? She fought panic then and groped around for firewood. She’d stay strong because weaknesses like these were no help when you were trying to survive.
Once Vala had gathered a few pieces of firewood she headed back to the cave just as hers and Daniel’s watch alarms went off. She placed the wood on the fire, and light and warmth slowly returned to the cave. Winking at Daniel, she assured him that he could sleep while she kept watch for the rest of the night. She sat on the ground, warming her hands over the fire and looking out into the forest.
*o^-* o^-* o^-* o^-*
Chapter 2: http://aeryn-b.livejournal.com/8109.html
I should note that I haven't used a beta for the extra stuff I've written over the years, though I had many beta-readers at one point 4 years ago, namely Kris, Nat, Kay, Isa, Milena, Cat, and LC (you know who you are, thanks so much for all your support, and sorry if I missed someone).
I should also note that reviews really aren't necessary, though they will be appreciated if you would like to leave one. EDIT: Nevermind, they are necessary, darnit! ;-) Just kidding. No guilt trips, friends, but if you like the story, leave me a note. :-) But I'm not likely to change anything at this point. While I understand that research is the cornerstone of any good writing, I'm quite a lazy writer. I've done the bare minimum of research to keep the story as understandable to me as possible, which means I've basically rewatched Seasons 9 and 10 over and over again. Sure there might be stuff about survival or pregnancy or alternate dimensions on the internet, but all of that usually bogs me down. So I warn you, if something just sounds wrong or stupid and you just can't get past my idiocy, move on to another fic. You could let me know, but I'll probably ignore it, or worse, feel like a complete and utter loser, and I'd rather not feel like that. Bottom line, if it bothers you, I'm sorry for being an idiot, please stop reading and move along.
So yeah, I think that's all in the way of author's notes. I suppose I should point out that I don't own any of this Stargate stuff. MGM, Brad Wright, Rob C. Cooper, and a lot of other people do. I simply adore their characters and universe and I wanted to use them to tell a story. Please enjoy. :)
TITLE: Some Things Change, Some Things Remain the Same (Chapter 1)
AUTHOR: aeryn_b
RATING: PG-13 to R (there are a few NC-17 chapters later on, I will put it in the warning)
WARNING: none
CATEGORY: Alternate Universe, Romance, Adventure, Hurt/Comfort
PAIRINGS: Daniel/Vala
CHARACTERS: Daniel Jackson, Vala Mal Doran, (appearances by Tomin, Samantha Carter, Cameron Mitchell, Teal'c)
SPOILERS/TIMELINE: "Beachhead" through Season 9 to "Flesh and Blood"
SUMMARY/PREMISE: What happens if both Vala AND Daniel are transported to the Ori galaxy at the end of "Beachhead"? How will they survive and how will they get back?
Click here to read on FFN
Click here to read on alldanielfic.com
Chapter 1
Trees. Crap. Pine trees by the look of them, but trees nonetheless. Guess we’re not on the Prometheus. Maybe, just maybe, we’re on a planet in the same system. Maybe.
Daniel crouched down to look at Vala who was lying unconscious on the ring platform, a ring platform that looked remarkably similar to the ring platform in Ver Eger. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that they were on a hill above a village, a village that looked remarkably similar to the village of Ver Eger. Hell.
Vala would not wake up no matter how much Daniel prodded her. They'd have to get out of sight quickly if they really were in an Ori village again. Daniel noticed the zat gun that Vala had brought on board the cargo ship, so he tucked it into the back of his pants and picked Vala up, juggling her a bit in his arms.
A few feet away from the platform, he heard a noise coming from the hillside. It sounded as if someone was scrambling up the hill. Daniel hesitated a moment then decided to hide rather than try to explain the situation to whoever approached.
The man appeared soon after Daniel had hidden himself and Vala behind a few trees. The villager was of average height with shaggy brown hair and a pack slung over his shoulder. He also walked with a distinct limp. The man looked over at the ring platform and seemed surprised that it was empty. He then glanced out into the forest and, apparently seeing nothing out of the ordinary, left the way he came, limping down the path to the village.
Daniel let out a sigh of relief. Now what to do? He’d need to find water and shelter before nightfall. They had two weapons, the zat and his gun, and their radios if they ever became separated. Daniel had a lighter in his pocket, a pocket knife, and two energy bars. He felt around in Vala’s pockets and found a 6-oz. water bottle and four energy bars. They’d be all right for food for a couple of days, maybe more. There wasn’t much searching he could do while carrying Vala, so he tried once more to rouse her, yet she would not awaken. They were sitting ducks here; they were going to have to leave very soon. But before that - he took out his knife and went to the tree closest to the rings. He carved out a symbol, which to anyone else would look like a semicircle. Satisfied with his message and looking once more around the forest for anyone else, he went back to Vala, picked her up and started walking in a direction away from the village.
After about ten minutes Daniel found a fallen tree trunk that offered a good hiding place for his charge. He set her down against the trunk, took off his jacket, and laid her head gently on top of it on the ground. The sun was still high in the sky, so there was little chance that he would get cold in his long-sleeved black shirt while he went searching for a stream or a spring and shelter. He also decided to leave the zat close to her in case she woke up and needed to defend herself. Then Daniel picked a direction and started walking. He told himself he would only be gone five or ten minutes, and he concentrated on walking in a straight line away from Vala so he could find his way back.
“There must be some sort of energy linkage between them. Like a chain,” Sam explained.
“Exactly, so we-”
But Mitchell interrupted her, “So we need a big ol’ set of bolt-cutters.”
“The cloaked cargo ship…” Teal’c figured it out before the rest of them, well before everyone except Vala. He should’ve known she’d figure it out.
“Vala,” Daniel called to her but when he turned to look for her, he saw that she’d already left the bridge.
“So that’s what Gerak meant,” but Daniel barely heard Mitchell; he was rushing down the hall to catch up with Vala. She had maybe a thirty- or sixty-second head start on him. It was obvious to Daniel that she was heading for the ring platform to board the cloaked cargo ship that Gerak had left to monitor the situation.
When he made it to the ring room, Vala was entering commands into the computer and the technician was lying unconscious on the floor.
“Vala, what are you doing?”
“What?” Vala looked up at Daniel with surprise. “Just stand back, Daniel. I’ll be back in a minute.” Then she pressed a final key and hopped into the center of the rings, and Daniel followed a split second behind her. “Daniel!”
“How did you get that weapon?” Daniel questioned her as they materialized aboard the cargo ship. “And why did you shoot the tech?”
“Shut up, Daniel!”
Vala knew that the pilot would be alerted to their presence by the rings’ activation, if not by their shouting, so she pulled Daniel to the side and stood in front of him, waiting for the Jaffa to open the door to the cargo hold. As soon as he did, she stunned him and stepped over the body toward the controls.
“Move him into the rings and send him back to the Prometheus. Hopefully we’ll make it…”
“Jackson, you there?” Mitchell called through the radio.
“Yeah, Vala and I are on board the cloaked cargo ship.”
“You’re going to replace the last link, aren’t you?” Sam said.
“That’s what I’m trying,” Vala replied.
“Vala, when that singularity forms, there will be a powerful shock wave. The cargo ship won’t survive,” Sam tried to explain.
“I’m counting on it. We’ll ring back before it hits, and you can all thank me immensely,” Vala kidded.
Daniel came up behind her chair. “All right, I sent him to the Prometheus. Are we there yet?” Suddenly they were jolted as if someone had just slammed on the brakes.
“Yes, we’re there.”
Flashes of electric current sparked between the consoles and the bulkheads. They both stared out into space and were shocked to see the planet actually shrinking before their eyes. Knowing it would happen was one thing, but seeing it happen was entirely too frightening. They scrambled to the back of the ship, Daniel beating Vala to the control panel.
“Get onto the platform!” he shouted.
“No, together. You’re not making any sacrifices today.”
“Of course not, now let’s go.”
Daniel pushed her into the center of the rings as power surges sparked all over the ship. The last thing he remembered was looking into Vala’s smoky blue eyes as they were engulfed in a bright light.
He’d gone over those last minutes as he walked in one direction away from Vala and then trekked back. He checked on her to make sure she was still unconscious but all right, then set his watch to walk ten minutes in the opposite direction, replaying the events that had brought them here once more.
She’d brilliantly discovered a way to destroy the Ori supergate, if it really had been destroyed. He decided to remain optimistic about that, even though it meant they’d have to find some other way back to their own galaxy without the use of a supergate.
Escape wasn’t his main concern at the moment. Water and shelter were. But questions still plagued him. The most nagging of which was why he had arrived conscious when Vala hadn’t.
Having found nothing on his present course, Daniel turned completely around and started back toward Vala. When he came up close he saw that she was still sleeping soundly, so he gathered her, the zat gun and his jacket once more into his arms and headed off away from the village. He found another good hiding spot for Vala and started searching again, walking ten minutes in one direction, then backtracking and heading ten minutes in the other.
At the end of his second search, he came upon a spring near the mouth of a cave. He bent down to the pool beneath the spring and tasted the water. It was cool and clear.
Water. Check.
Taking a closer look at the cave he noticed that it was dry, and even if he didn’t see the adventure in exploring it, they could probably sleep here and stay safe. They probably wouldn’t draw much attention either if they lit a fire here in the cave instead of out in the forest.
Okay, shelter. Check.
Looking around for any landmarks and at least noting the faint path he’d taken to get here, he retraced his steps to Vala. Unfortunately, she was still out cold. Daniel sat next to her and rested. Taking out an energy bar he munched absently and thought about what their next course of action should be.
Having finished dinner he bent to pick up his charge and trudged through the forest to their makeshift shelter. She hadn’t stirred at all since they’d arrived on this planet and Daniel fought an uneasy panic building inside him. Had something happened to her in the beam? Had one of the power surges hit her? How could he even begin to help her if he didn’t know what was wrong? Survival was one thing, but survival with an unconscious burden was another.
Not that he would abandon her. It was her quick thinking that had saved the day. What would she have done if she’d been stuck here alone? Best not think about that now. They were here together and they’d find a way out of this mess.
The light was slowly fading as he stepped into the mouth of the cavern. He set Vala down and placed the zat gun near her once more as he moved out to search for firewood and kindling.
*o^-* o^-* o^-* o^-*
Vala awoke gasping for breath, clutching her throat as she remembered the nightmare of being burned alive in the Ori galaxy, her most recent terrifying memory in a life full of them. She sat up fully and took in her surroundings. A fire that was dwindling out lit up a small cavern and the edge of a forest outside. All right, she thought, could be worse. She looked down at herself and noticed the clothes she was wearing were those of the people of Earth and the SGC, and then everything seemed to come flooding back in an instant. The prior, the planet, the nuclear bomb, the supergate forming…the cloaked cargo ship, Daniel…
“Daniel?” she asked of the cave, looking around for anything that resembled him. She noticed a Daniel-shaped bundle against the cave wall and crawled over to it. “Hey, wake up!” she said, shaking his arm.
“Wh-What?” he jerked his head up, brought out his gun with one hand, and grabbed Vala’s wrist with the other.
“It’s just me, Daniel. You were asleep and I was worried. Where are we?” she glanced around the cave.
“Finally, you’re awake!” Daniel replaced his sidearm, took his glasses off, and rubbed his eyes.
“What do you mean? How long have we been here?”
He replaced his glasses on his nose and answered, “About a day and a half, I think, and you’ve been unconscious the whole time.”
“What?!?” Vala sat back and stared blankly at the campfire burning itself out. Her inner survivalist emerged. “Step one: weapons, water and shelter, depending on weather and enemies.”
“The zat you…” Daniel inclined his head, “borrowed…and my 9-mil berretta; there’s a spring around the side of the cave; and oh, the cave,” he gestured to their surroundings.
Vala gave him a sideways glance. “You’ve done this before?”
“Not really a babe in the woods over here,” he deadpanned.
“All right. Step two: food.”
“Four power bars left, and the local squirrels aren’t too bad, but I’d rather skip to step three-”
“Determine what we have to trade or barter for what we need. If nothing can be traded away, prepare to steal what we need.”
“My step three is usually to find friendly help that will provide what we need, but it doesn’t matter, the end result is the same.”
“So, what's our immediate need?”
“To blend in with the villagers, and by the way, it’s a village so similar to Ver Eger I’d be surprised if it isn’t the same.”
“Damn,” Vala barely whispered as Daniel stretched his arms high above his head and yawned. “Hey, have you been awake this whole time?” she asked. “You look exhausted. And where’s your jacket?”
He pointed behind her. “Your pillow.”
She shook out the jacket and brought it over to Daniel. “I was unconscious, I didn’t need a pillow.”
“You would’ve gotten dirt in your hair or bugs or something, and then you would’ve complained about the dirt or the bugs.”
“I could’ve handled it, Daniel,” she shot back. He probably had been awake this whole time; he was certainly cranky.
“Well, I didn’t want to be bothered by your complaining, so just drop it, all right?”
“Fine!” She stood up dramatically, then fought a slight wave of nausea at her sudden movement. Regaining her composure, she patted Daniel on the top of his head. “You just rest your pretty little head here and I’ll go out and find some more wood for this fire.”
“No!” he shouted, a bit too quickly. “It’s dark, you could get lost, and...and I’m about ready to fall asleep again.”
“Go ahead and sleep, Daniel,” she soothed. “Everything will be all right.” She looked out into the forest, her eyes adjusting to the dim starlight. “I’ll only go out to the edge of the forest. This fire is going out and we’ll get cold-”
“No, it’s not worth it for you to get lost or hurt or something. Just, I don’t know, sit next to me or something to stay warm. Here, I might still have your silly scarf.” He rooted around in his pockets for the item and handed it back to her. “Besides, I think it’s only a few hours ’til dawn anyway.”
“Daniel,” she crouched in front of him, accepted her scarf, and looked him straight in the eyes, “as much as I’d love to sit here and cuddle with you, we need to build up this fire a little. I’ve got my radio, and you have yours too, it appears. I’ll take the zat and I’ll be gone five minutes, ten tops.”
Daniel returned her stare and Vala tried to figure out why he was being so reluctant to let her leave. He broke the gaze and shook his head. “You’ve been asleep for over thirty hours. I don’t know what happened to you in the beam, why you arrived unconscious and I didn’t. Look, there might be something wrong and I want you to stay close.”
“I feel fine, Daniel, you’re worrying too much. I realize something may have happened to me, but you’ve got to relax. Here,” she set her watch alarm for five minutes, “set your watch. I’ll be back, okay?”
Vala stood up then and there was nothing Daniel could do short of pulling her forcibly back and curling his arms around her. That was peculiar. He’d been so short with her on the Prometheus, this behavior was some turn-around. Well, she knew from experience that survival situations played on a person’s nerves. He was probably just feeling the effects of the strain and sleep-deprivation.
She only had the five minutes she’d promised him, so she walked a few steps out of the cave to find the firewood she’d wanted to get. She fought the dizziness swirling in her head for a moment, then dug around in her pocket for an energy bar, thinking she was just hungry. But once she’d finished it, she realized that hadn’t been the only problem. She came upon the spring Daniel had mentioned and took a few sips of water, and while the coolness helped a little, the dizziness and faint nausea remained. What if Daniel was right and something had happened to her in the matter stream? She fought panic then and groped around for firewood. She’d stay strong because weaknesses like these were no help when you were trying to survive.
Once Vala had gathered a few pieces of firewood she headed back to the cave just as hers and Daniel’s watch alarms went off. She placed the wood on the fire, and light and warmth slowly returned to the cave. Winking at Daniel, she assured him that he could sleep while she kept watch for the rest of the night. She sat on the ground, warming her hands over the fire and looking out into the forest.
*o^-* o^-* o^-* o^-*
Chapter 2: http://aeryn-b.livejournal.com/8109.html