Part 2
Part 3
"A bond?" Vala fisted her hands on her hips. "You think there's a bond between us?"
"Vala!"
The Red Sister appeared distressed. "Please... I am sorry... I-"
Daniel attempted to rub at his eyes with the heels of both hands, but groaned as his entire left side protested the aborted movement. "Alaina, you didn't do anything wrong, but can Vala and I talk in private for a moment?"
She nodded vigorously. "I'll just... I'll be outside, if you need me."
Once Alaina was gone, Vala sat down on the floor and crossed her arms. "What?" she demanded.
Daniel licked his lips, wishing he had some water to drink, but then realized he was looking for a distraction. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"Haven't you asked me that already?"
"But you didn't answer, exactly." His gaze fell to his lap. "Mitchell told me how hard you worked to find me while I was... gone. Thank you."
Her eyes lowered as well. "You did the same for me after Athena took me. It was the least I could do."
"I think you did more than your 'least'." Reaching out with his good arm, he patted her left knee. "I understand you had a run-in with Tomin while I was away. Care to talk about it?"
Lacing her fingers through his, she sighed. "Not really."
"Mitchell says you talked him into freeing you."
"Mitchell says a lot... but... I think I managed to convince Tomin that the Priors were concealing the truth from everyone. He confronted one, and when he came back, he said that the Prior was twisting the stories in the Book of Origin to suit the situation."
Daniel gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "What happened next?"
"Well, I told him the villagers the Ori were trying to wipe out didn't deserve to die, and that I thought that he, as a leader in their armies, could do something about it. He left, then the next thing I know, he's running back into the room, telling me that the Prior destroyed the village and that I had to get off the ship. He said they'd probably kill him for freeing me, but when I begged him to come with me..." She sniffed loudly, turning her head away.
"He refused?"
"He said he still loved me!" she shouted, jerking her hand free and turning to face him with sudden anger. "Why would he say that then refuse to leave with me?"
Daniel looked up, taking in the tears brimming at the corners of her eyes and the flush to her cheeks. "You love him too, don't you?"
"No! I... well... maybe a little. But that's not the point!"
"Maybe it was the point. He loved you, but you didn't... maybe he was letting you go, but also letting you go."
Vala blinked. "As in, 'if you love something, let it go'?"
"Yeah."
"Oh." She frowned, then suddenly made a fist and punched Daniel in the right shoulder. "You did the same thing, you bastard!"
"Ow! What? No!" While grateful Vala hadn't struck his injured side, he couldn't reach to massage away the sting with his one good arm.
"Yes, you did! You could have come after me on the Prometheus, but you didn't... you let me go! And then you did it again with the Supergate... and then with Merlin and Adria!"
"I tried to stop you from going to the Supergate, and I was the one who needed to be let go with Adria and Merlin!"
"No, you made me go. Mitchell had to drag me away to get me to leave." She seized her lower lip in her teeth, gave it a scrape, then exhaled heavily. "If I really loved Tomin, I would have stayed with him, or made him come with me... wouldn't I?"
Daniel sighed and tipped his head back against the wall. "I don't know, Vala. I made some mistakes with Sha're, but I know I loved her, and I'm pretty sure she loved me." He closed his eyes briefly, acknowledging the old grief, but able to let it pass without it altering his mood. "Just because you let Tomin let you go, doesn't mean you don't love him. Sometimes the hardest part of loving someone is knowing when to let them take the risks."
Vala's breath hitched. "You know... Mitchell said almost the same thing."
"About you and Tomin?"
She shook her head, an enigmatic smile curling the corners of her mouth. "About me and you." Then, before Daniel could react to that, she leaned forward and kissed him-gently, chastely-on the lips. Just as quickly, she pulled away, but kept her face close to his as her fingers caressed his left cheek. "I keep leaving Tomin... but I keep coming back to you."
Daniel felt his heart give a curious thump in his chest, as though it had only just started beating again. "So you do," was all he managed to say. "Does that mean you're mine?"
"If you want me... yes." She smiled sadly, and tears again formed in her eyes. "All the things I liked best about Tomin, I liked because I saw them in you first. But you Tau'ri have another wonderful saying: 'nothing worth having comes easily'."
Grinning, Daniel let his free hand trace across Vala's lower lip. "Now you're playing hard-to-get?"
"I've chased you all this time... it's your turn to do a little running."
"I just followed you across this entire valley and fought off a pair of dragons. Does that count?"
"Hmm..." Vala gave him another quick kiss, but leaned back when Daniel tried to prolong it. "It's a start."
He heaved a martyred sigh. "And here come the requests for Herculean feats. I'm afraid those will have to wait until this is healed," he smiled, inclining his head toward his left shoulder.
"Only two tasks," Vala replied, sitting back on her heels. "First: take me out to dinner again."
"I'll get us an armed escort if I have to," he vowed.
"And second: help me find out what happened to Tomin." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "It's not fair to him-to any of us-if I don't make a clean break."
Daniel nodded somberly, then extended his right hand. "Deal."
"Deal," Vala agreed, shaking his hand.
"Right... can you go ask Alaina to get back in here? She seemed pretty terrified we were about to re-enact the Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot love-triangle, and since she's the only one who can get us off this mountain..."
* * *
No matter how gentle Alaina tried to be, there was just no way riding in the enclosure of a dragon's talons could be considered comfortable, especially not with cracked ribs, a broken arm, and what may or may not be a broken collarbone. Gritting his teeth to keep from yelling his head off, he grimly endured the jerky flight by keeping his eyes firmly shut. He'd mostly gotten over his little problem with heights between Thor's holographic test room on Cimmeria and parachuting over Siberia, but he wasn't about to take any additional chances on the contents of his stomach.
The shouts of human voices reached his ears, and he reluctantly squinted one eye to see the blurry grey of the garrison pass by beneath, and several dark splotches raced about frantically on the ground below. The beat of Alaina's wings slowed as she brought herself to a careful landing on her hind legs, and the wind generated continued to buffet the dragon's passengers as she brought her forelegs low enough to carefully release them. Daniel hit the ground a little harder than his shoulder and side liked, but he managed to stay upright.
Knowing the soldiers in the watchtower-and Mitchell, too, if he was still around-were probably terrified to see the return of the red dragon, Daniel quickly pulled the torc out of the cargo pocket in his BDU pants, and held it out toward Alaina. As before, the rubies flared, and when the light was gone, the dragon's form had been replaced by her human guise. The Red Sister placed the jewelry around her neck again, and the three set off down the hill toward the tower.
Mitchell was not the first one through the tower's gate, but his pace quickly outstripped the garrison's soldiers. "Jackson! Vala!" He drew up short. "And...?"
Daniel gestured expansively. "Alaina, this is Colonel Cameron Mitchell. Mitchell, this is Alaina, Red Sister of Avalon."
"Ma'am?" Mitchell replied, uncertain.
"An honor to meet you, Sir Knight," Alaina replied graciously, bowing her head in a way that reminded Daniel of Teal'c's stately grace. She then tilted her head sideways and looked at the colonel curiously. "You bear a striking resemblance to Lord Peredur."
"Who?"
"Percival," Daniel grinned.
Mitchell crossed his arms over the stock of his P90. "Right... Strangely enough, lady, you're not the first person to tell me that."
"Truly?"
"Myrddin said the same thing," Vala smirked. "And then Daniel did once he had Myrddin's memories."
Alaina's head whipped around so quickly Daniel nearly felt whiplash. "You have Myrddin's memories?!"
"I had Myrddin's memories," he corrected, tapping himself on the side of the head. "All gone now."
Vala sniffed, waggling her finger at Alaina. "That torc there says you're a liar, Daniel."
"And only a few hours ago, you admitted you'd been having dreams about Merlin's past," Mitchell added.
Outnumbered, Daniel sighed in defeat. "Okay, so I don't consciously remember anything. That's not really relevant right now."
"On the contrary, it is quite germane." Alaina clasped her hands together excitedly. "Now I know why I felt I knew you, Daniel!"
"Merlin thought he was Galahad," Mitchell offered. "But... he did seem a little 'out of it' at first."
"What do you mean?"
Rolling his eyes at Mitchell, Daniel launched into an abbreviated recounting of the team's encounter with the Ancient, and concluding with Merlin's "death" after the Sangreal was deployed. As he spoke-and Vala and Mitchell added their own voices to the narrative-Daniel became aware of a small crowd gathering around them. Despite their earlier caution, the men of the Cambrian garrison were drawn in by the adventure, and their fear of the transformed dragon was won over by their curiosity.
When he was finished, Alaina was practically glowing with excitement. "I knew you to be Ambrosius, Daniel, but in learning of your association with Myrddin, your lack of memory now makes sense!"
"Ambrosius?" Mitchell asked.
Daniel shook his head, wincing as he jostled his shoulder. "Long story, not important right now. Look, any chance I can get this shoulder immobilized before I really break something?"
Mitchell turned to look at him, blinked in surprise, then swore. "Why didn't you say you were hurt?"
"I was a little more concerned with trying to keep everyone from shooting at the dragon lady," he retorted. "And on that note... any sign of Morgause, the white dragon?"
"Not so much as a puff of smoke," Mitchell answered, making a quick visual sweep of the sky. "But that doesn't mean we should keep on standing out in the open all day." He waved a hand at one of the Cambrian soldiers. "Hey, Geralt, let's take this inside."
The garrison commander snapped back to reality. "I... of course." Turning to Vala, he added, "My lady, please forgive me for my actions."
"You were following orders," Mitchell reminded him.
"But you could have left me with a decent tool to pick the locks," Vala added, lifting her hands to show her wrists were free of manacles-something Daniel hadn't made note of until now. "I had to break one of Daniel's precious pens to make a lockpick."
"Hey!" he protested, right hand instinctively covering the vest pouch where he kept his writing tools.
"I'll buy you a new one," she teased, grinning flirtatiously.
Mitchell stepped behind Daniel and gave him a nudge to get him moving toward the tower. "I see you two have kissed and made up."
Vala put her hands on her hips. "What an excellent suggestion, Cameron. Oh, Daniel?"
It was all Daniel could do to keep from grinning. To all appearances, nothing had changed between him and Vala, but in reality, everything had. "Oh, great, Mitchell... you see what you've started?"
* * *
Now that Vala was safe and the white dragon had been driven off, the sense of urgency to return to the castle was nearly gone. Daniel consented to having his probably-cracked ribs taped and his arm-which Mitchell thought was only sprained, not broken-strapped down to limit movement on his definitely-broken collarbone. He gladly accepted a few ibuprofen tablets to help reduce swelling, but despite his persistent headache, he refused any painkillers, knowing that he'd need to keep his mind sharp.
Captain Geralt and his troop were torn between fear and awe, and divided their mixed reactions between Alaina, the dragon-turned-woman, and Daniel, whom they regarded as a powerful wizard. The whole tower had witnessed him activate the torc, and assumed he'd used magic. When Daniel attempted to explain otherwise, Mitchell cut him off.
"Remember what happened the last two times you said there was no such thing as magic?" he reminded Daniel later.
"Good point," Daniel sighed, defeated. "Okay, I guess I'm a wizard for the time being. How soon can we head back to the castle?"
"That busted wing's going to slow you down," Mitchell began, "and Vala's practically asleep on her feet. Geralt and the guys who helped him grab Vala are also pretty worn down. The rest of the garrison's in pretty decent shape, though, but I reckon they'll stay here to keep watch for the white dragon."
"So...?"
"So it might not be a bad idea to give everyone a few hours to rest." He rolled his shoulders. "Only thing is, Landry's probably expecting to hear back from us by now. I guess he could send a UAV our way, though." Leaning back into his chair, the colonel eyed him suspiciously. "Are you in a hurry to get back?"
Daniel shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know. There doesn't seem to be any immediate danger, but then again, we don't know how badly we injured Morgause. I just can't help but think that the sooner we get her and Alaina taken care of, the better."
"You think maybe she can be reasoned with? Alaina doesn't seem so bad."
"I don't know, but I doubt it. According to Alaina-and I think we can trust her-the drakes are the result of an unfertilized female dragon laying a clutch of eggs. It's against her people's laws, as the baby dragons are cut off from the Dreaming and are relatively mindless compared to those born from fertilized eggs. In legend, Morgause was responsible for raising Mordred to be Arthur's rival. I haven't asked Alaina to verify that yet, but it would seem likely that's the 'crime' that led to her exile."
"So... what did Alaina do?"
"Introduced Lancelot and Guinevere to one another."
Mitchell grimaced. "Yowch. Some of the stuff I read said that Arthur lost the will to live after Guinevere betrayed him."
"From the way Alaina reacted, I'd say that's pretty much what happened." He sighed, resting his head against the tall back of his own chair.
"I wonder how much weight she can carry," Mitchell thought aloud, after a moment of silence. "Alaina, I mean."
"She had no trouble carrying me and Vala. Why?"
"Geralt's got one of those hand-drawn coaches here. I'm just wondering if she can carry that with the three of us in it, and someone can come back and get the ATVs later."
Daniel's eyebrows rose. "It'd be a bumpy ride, but I think it might work. It wouldn't hurt to ask, and could definitely save us a lot of time."
"We'll have to land well short of the castle, though, just in case the SG teams Landry sent us are set up to shoot dragons on-sight."
"One thing at a time, Mitchell, one thing at a time."
* * *
Alaina and Vala were found in the room the garrison commander had set aside for them, and Vala looked a little disgruntled at having had her nap interrupted before she'd even begun. Once the plan was outlined, however, she cheerfully added her support to it, expressing her fervent desire for a hot bath and her comfortable bed at the SGC. Alaina was confident she could carry their weight and more, and Captain Geralt volunteered to make the return trip, as well.
Geralt had the carriage brought out of the tower, and after Mitchell satisfied himself that it was sturdy enough to be picked up and carried with passengers aboard, Alaina removed her torc and returned it to Daniel for safe-keeping. Still not entirely sure how he was able to make the device work, Daniel waited until Alaina was clear of the tower before deactivating it. After the usual flash of light from the torc's stones, Alaina was once more in her natural form.
"All aboard!" Mitchell exclaimed, irritatingly excited about the wild ride they were about to undertake. Daniel briefly contemplated downing enough pain killers to put him out for the trip, but then decided against it: no one else could understand Alaina while she was in dragon-form.
Moments after Vala signaled out the window that they were ready to move, the wooden frame shuddered as though it had been struck by a heavy object, then with a lurch, it was airborne. Due to her mass, Alaina had had to climb to a higher point, leap off it to give her wings a chance to generate some lift, then snatch up the carriage at the bottom of her arc. It had been a tricky maneuver, but successful, and now the dragon's powerful wings were carrying them all higher into the air.
Alaina was holding the carriage by its base, but even still, the swaying inside the small cabin was making even Mitchell a little motion-sick. Geralt had turned deathly pale, and Vala had already leaned toward Daniel and sworn off ever again deriding Tau'ri methods of air transportation.
"Though I must say: I'm not nearly as concerned about falling now that I have a floor beneath me," she admitted, and Daniel agreed whole-heartedly. Vala had been conscious both times Alaina had carried them previously, and the first time had been even more terrifying for not knowing the dragon's intentions.
It was a much longer flight than the trip from Alaina's cave to the garrison tower, but it was still far shorter than walking across the valley would have been, and there was simply no way Daniel could have safely ridden one of the ATVs with his current injuries. In less than an hour, Alaina was announcing their proximity to the castle, and indicating her intent to drop the carriage atop a low hill before circling back to land.
"Brace yourselves!" Daniel warned, sticking his good arm out the side window, then back through the window of the door. His companions similarly grabbed for support, and after a brief sensation of free-fall, the wheels of the coach slammed into the ground, and the suspension chains shrieked in protest. Mitchell quickly opened the door on his side and hopped out to make sure the brakes were still engaged, and when he was satisfied they weren't about to roll down the hill, he gallantly offered a hand to help Vala exit.
"Jackson?" Mitchell then offered, and though Daniel's pride demanded he ignore the assistance, the aches and twinges from his abused body got the better of him.
Within a few minutes, Alaina had landed and been returned to human form, and the group of five set off across the field toward the castle. There was no sign of human life in the surrounding fields, but given that a full-grown dragon had just flown overhead, Daniel couldn't blame anyone for hiding. The closer they came to the castle, however, the more concerned he became at the lack of activity.
As the only one with a still-intact radio, Mitchell attempted to make contact with the rest of their team first, and when that garnered no response, he tried to hail any other SGC personnel who might have been on-world. "Nobody's answering," he reported shortly.
"Could the castle walls be causing interference?" Daniel asked.
"Sam said they weren't thick enough."
"Besides," Vala began, "if the general sent the teams you requested, wouldn't there have been some of our people at the Stargate and atop the battlements?"
"She's right," Mitchell said grimly. "Something's wrong here."
"I see movement on the walls," Geralt reported. "Perhaps your magic isn't working?"
The teammates exchanged worried glances. "We'll see," Daniel replied, unconvinced.
They approached the castle gate, and Geralt hailed the guard. One man opened the shutters on a small window next to the gate, peered out, and was frozen in surprise for a moment. "Captain Geralt!"
"It is I. Might my companions and I have safe passage, Gate Keeper? We have urgent business with Queen Branwen and the other Knights of the Round."
"A moment, Captain," the guard replied and pulled the shutters closed.
After a long wait, the large gate finally began to swing open, but as the gap between the two sides widened, they realized that a squad of armed men was waiting for them on the other side. The castle's seneschal, Cadoc, stood just behind the soldiers, a deep frown marring his face.
"Lay down your weapons and you will remain unharmed," he warned.
"Lord Cadoc, what is the meaning of this?" Geralt demanded.
Cadoc raised his left hand. "You look like Captain Geralt, but I have been told that Sir Daniel is a cunning wizard with many spirits at his disposal. Queen Branwen is missing, and until she is returned, I am holding all of Sir Daniel's people."
"All? Now wait just a minute," Mitchell began, irritation coloring his voice. "When we left here, the queen was up in Merlin's old tower with Sam and Teal'c. Did anyone think to look there?"
"You think me a fool?" Cadoc replied. "Queen Branwen never returned from the west tower, and a servant sent to look for her reported the tower's loft as empty as ever."
"Well, what about Lady Samantha and Sir Teal'c?" Daniel asked. "When we left, they were in the tower as well."
"They were not, and I believe they abducted our queen at your behest." The seneschal crossed his arms over his chest. "After your behavior in my lady's chambers this morning, I believe you capable of anything."
"Daniel?" Vala questioned, raising an eyebrow.
He grimaced. "Got into a yelling match with the queen. I held my temper... barely."
"Yeah, he behaved himself for the most part," Mitchell grinned, then sobered again when he took in Cadoc's still-angry expression. "Maybe Sam and Teal'c got the rings working, and the queen went with them."
"That actually makes sense," Daniel agreed. "But why haven't they returned yet?"
"Can't find the switch on the other end?" Vala suggested.
"No switch on this end," Mitchell answered, "and if they were transported by rings, then that means Sam's gadgets picked up the right activation frequency. Would there have been a different frequency required on the other end?"
"Shouldn't have been," the former host replied, "but it's possible."
"I know the transportation devices of which you speak," Alaina began, "and activation of most platforms built by Myrddin requires a keyed transmitter. Once such key was included in my torc, but I do not know if it will still respond to my command."
Mitchell shrugged. "If you can't, maybe Jackson can." He narrowed his eyes then, looking at Daniel. "I didn't know you had the ATA gene."
Daniel grimaced, unsure if he had the Ancient gene or not. He'd always managed to avoid being tested for it, in large part because he didn't want to add yet another tick-mark to the already-long list of reasons the NID kept naming in their quarterly petitions to have him "reassigned" to Area 51. "Not that I've ever noticed," he answered, side-stepping the issue. "If the torc works, we can retrieve the queen and put this whole misunderstanding behind us."
"Of what do you speak?" Cadoc asked, cautiously.
"This is Alaina, one of the Sisters of Avalon," Daniel explained, introducing his companion. "We think that Queen Branwen, Lady Samantha, and Sir Teal'c were pulled through a portal made by Myrddin. Alaina may be able to... to cast a spell to re-open the portal, and if so, we can get everyone back safely."
"Leave your weapons and magical devices here and I will allow it," the seneschal decided. "Sir Cameron, Lady Vala, you will wait with the rest of your people."
"The rest?"
"A dozen more of your people came from the Round after you left this morning. Upon their arrival, it was discovered that our queen had gone missing, and they were immediately suspect."
"That makes no sense," Mitchell muttered under his breath. "They weren't here, so how could they have done anything?"
Daniel smiled a little at his team leader's fair assessment of the seneschal's failed logic. "Alaina and I will try to set this straight," he promised Cadoc.
His vest had already been removed in order to facilitate treatment of his injuries, and was now carried with Cam's pack, but Daniel still needed assistance removing his gun belt and thigh holster. Once those were gone, he and Alaina were surrounded by a quartet of guards, and escorted into the castle. Glancing behind him as they left, he was able to spot Cam and Vala being led to a different part of the castle grounds.
"Why do you simply not tell them who you are?" Alaina quietly asked him as they began the climb up the west tower's spiraling stairs.
"I have told them who I am," he answered, keeping his pace slow to lessen the aggravation to his ribs.
She frowned. "If they knew who you truly were, they would not treat you so!"
"Look... I'm Daniel Jackson of SG-1. That's who I am: nothing more, nothing less."
"You are Ambrosius Arturis."
He coughed, thumped his breastbone with his fist, then waved off the guard who moved to assist him. "Ah, I don't think so. You've got the wrong guy."
"I knew you as a child and as a grown man. There is no one else Myrddin would have entrusted his memories to other than his apprentice." She arched an eyebrow as he shook his head again. "Deny it if you will, but you know I am right."
"Okay, say I really was an Ambrosius... why don't I remember being ascended before my 'rebirth'?"
"I believe it to be because you were a 'lower' raised before your time. Perhaps only one of the true Ascended-those who reach Ascension unaided-can be reborn with all their memories intact. My kind has always existed across multiple planes, as the Ancients now do, so I do not know what is required. I do know that if anything had happened to you-to Arturis-Myrddin, Morgana, or Omasala would have seen to it that you were spared. You were their hope."
Daniel licked his lower lip. "Omasala wouldn't happen to have had a fondness for overly-cryptic sayings, now would she?"
"Aye, she loves to speak in metaphors. You remember her, then?"
"I've met her... and by 'I', I mean 'Daniel Jackson'. There was nothing-nothing-from her to suggest what you're saying is true."
"Perhaps she did not think it important to remind you who you were, only to help you find who you are." Her lips quirked. "Or, as Omasala might say, 'look not at the shadow behind you, but at the light which creates it'."
Daniel whistled. "Oh, yeah, we're talking about the same woman, all right."
"So you believe me, then."
He was saved from having to reply by their arrival at the top of the stairs. The door was already open, and they were ushered inside by their guards. Immediately, he noted that the cobwebs and dust in the room had been greatly disturbed, likely by the people who had come looking for the queen.
"Anyone who doesn't want to be teleported, step outside the circle," Daniel announced as he and Alaina stepped into the middle of the mosaic. Unsurprisingly, all of the guards backed up hastily, but Geralt pushed through the line and moved onto the platform.
"I'll go with them," he promised.
Alaina nodded and closed her eyes, but only a moment later, she opened her eyes and shook her head. "The torc no longer responds to any of my commands."
"Okay, I'll try it," Daniel replied. Raising his right hand, he rested his wrist on the Red Sister's shoulder, letting his fingertips brush the surface of the torc. Still uncertain how to make the device work, he tried picturing the ring platform activating, and then he was surrounded by light and sound.
"Daniel!"
"Daniel Jackson!"
Opening his eyes and letting his hand fall from Alaina's shoulder, he turned around to face his teammates. Blinking back the spots on his vision from the brightness of the rings' activation, he asked, "You okay, guys?"
Sam grinned, Teal'c smiled, and Branwen appeared faint with relief. "How'd you get the rings to work?" Sam asked.
"Alaina's got a necklace... thing. It activates the rings, uh, among other things." He frowned. "You obviously got the rings to work one-way... why didn't you come back through?"
Sam's face fell, and Teal'c sobered. "The ring platform does not appear to return to the west tower," Teal'c answered. "Activating the platform from the tower allowed bi-directional travel with this location, but from this side, the destination is a cavern composed almost entirely of ice."
"Teal'c played 'Living MALP' and nearly got frostbite before I could ring him back," Sam added. "I've been trying to figure out a way to re-program the destination, but no luck so far. I was worried we'd be stuck here for days without supplies, but thankfully, there's a natural spring down here, so going thirsty wasn't an issue." She hooked a thumb over her shoulder, pointing toward an alcove from which the sound of flowing water could be heard.
"You are injured," Teal'c observed, looking Daniel and his companions over with a critical eye.
"Uh, yeah... got knocked over when we were freeing Vala. Oh! Sorry. Teal'c, Sam, this is Captain Geralt... Geralt, Samantha Carter and Teal'c. And this is Alaina... she's one of the Sisters of Avalon."
Branwen's eyes widened. "Truly?"
"I once held that title," Alaina agreed, "but I am uncertain it is still mine to claim."
"You're an Ancient?" Sam asked.
Alaina shook her head. "No, but my people were once allies of theirs."
"She's the red dragon," Daniel explained, trying not to let his smile get too smug.
"That is my natural form," she agreed.
Taking advantage of the ensuing question-and-answer session to slip away, Daniel began a slow tour of the cavern, observing the similarities between it and other places Merlin used for his research. Compared to the library on Camelot, however, this one was bare, and he suspected most of what was once here had ended up on that other planet.
"You may wish to look at this," Teal'c advised, having followed him. He motioned Daniel over to a paper-strewn worktable, where a familiar shape rested.
"Did you try this yet?" Daniel asked, fingers ghosting over-but not quite touching-the keys of the Ancient equivalent to a personal computer.
"We did, however my grasp of the Ancient language was insufficient to make much progress."
"Oh... this one doesn't require phase-shifting to work?"
"Apparently not."
Decision made, he tapped a key to bring up the projected screen, then began to read.
* * *
"Find anything we can use?"
Daniel jumped. Engrossed as he was in reading, he hadn't heard Sam come up behind him. "Um, quite a bit actually. This was apparently Merlin's journal when he lived on Avalon-on Earth-and is probably the most accurate account we'll ever have of the real story of Arthur. I read the last several entries first, though, and there's quite a bit here involving his return trips to this world. Apparently, he had some sort of portable transporter that let him travel between his various laboratories-including Glastonbury Tor-but there's no mention of what happened to that device."
He took a breath. "The interesting thing is, Merlin frequently returned to Earth to keep an eye on human advancement, and was largely responsible for keeping the story of Arthur alive throughout the ages." He grinned. "Apparently the reason the 'Camelot' we visited was named that instead of 'Caerllion' is because Merlin kept updating the story... ah, 'modernizing' it, you could say.
"Now the dating of his notes is based on some method used by the Ancients, but I think the entries stop somewhere around what we consider the late thirteenth century. Assuming that was when Morgan was forced to stop his work and hide him from the Others, then he was in stasis for over eight hundred years." He looked up at Alaina. "Eleven or twelve of these 'Awakenings' have occurred, right?"
"This is the twelfth," she agreed.
"So about every sixty years or so, the, uh, 'alarm clock' goes off. How long is it before you return to sleep?"
"Several days, I believe," Alaina grimaced, "perhaps longer. Morgause is older and stronger than I, and I always returned to Dreaming early to allow my injuries to heal."
"So it's possible that we may have hurt her badly enough to avoid the worst trouble from this Awakening."
"Perhaps, but even injured, she may still be able to create more of her mindless offspring. To the people of this world, these drakes are the more prevalent threat."
"So we're back to 'the sooner, the better'." Tapping a few keys, he pulled up a search tool and entered dormata-the Ancient word for "dreaming"-into the appropriate field. The query returned far too many results to sift through in only a few hours, so he cross-referenced the results with mention of Morgause and Alaina, which reduced the number of relevant entries to only a dozen. "Okay, Merlin created the device at Nimue's request... Morgan brought Morgause and Alaina here when it was finished... it's powered by 'the heat of the earth' in Alaina's bedchamber? Oh, 'sleeping room'."
"Yes, my cave is in a volcano. Morgause's mountain was also a volcano once, but I believe the Ancients redirected the lava flows many thousands of years ago when they stabilized the energy within the smaller mountain-my mountain."
Sam looked impressed. "They stabilized a volcano?"
"And redirected the energy for some other project they later abandoned, but Merlin doesn't say what. He used the captured energy to power the Dream-Giver-" Daniel blinked "-and some sort of masking field to hide the planet from space." He smiled at the gleam lighting Sam's face. "Yeah, something like this might help us protect Earth and a lot of other planets."
"Hopefully, we'll get a chance to study the technology. Anything in there about the rings?"
He searched, and a moment later had her answer. "The rings are currently set to activate in sequence: activating from the tower leads to here, this one leads to Morgause's cave, the one there leads to Alaina's cave, and the last one comes back here. The second mode is used only for travel between the tower and here, in the hill beneath the castle." He looked around the room, brow furrowing. "There should be a panel on the wall near the rings. There are two buttons on it: press the one that starts with the character Mitchell calls 'chair with a little square'."
Teal'c did as he asked. "Done."
"Great... now why don't we all head back up to the tower so that we can let Cadoc know Queen Branwen is safe?"
* * *
At first, it was decided that only Daniel, Sam, and Alaina would follow the circuit of rings to Alaina's cavern, where hopefully they would be able to reset the Dream-Giver. Vala protested at being left behind, however, and insisted she be allowed to join them. Mitchell complained about not wanting to let the "trouble magnets" out of his sight again, which Teal'c trumped by stating that Mitchell also required "adult supervision". After the good-natured ribbing died down, all five members of SG-1 squeezed onto the platform with Alaina. Stating that he'd rather they didn't rely on Alaina's torc, Daniel requested Sam activate the rings with the program on her laptop.
The first stop, as Teal'c had discovered, was Morgause's frozen cavern. No sooner had the rings settled then Daniel's mind was assailed with the cacophonous roaring that was the mind of the insane Morgause. Though the tunnel itself was actually very quiet, Daniel found himself shouting over the noise in his head for Sam to activate the rings again.
Emerging in the dry warmth of Alaina's den, Daniel nearly fell over in relief. "Ooookay... guess that answers whether or not Morgause would be willing to talk."
Mitchell's face scrunched up in confusion. "Jackson?"
"He can 'hear' the dragons' thoughts," Vala answered, helping Daniel regain his balance.
Alaina nodded sadly. "There are times I wonder if it might not be more merciful to kill her outright. Her hatred of Myrddin and Arturis has driven her to madness."
Mitchell glanced at each of his teammates in turn. "We could-"
She shook her head. "No matter what she has become, Morgause is still my sister. If anyone is to take action against her, it will be me." She bowed to the colonel in acknowledgement of his offer, then turned to face a large black box set against the back wall. "There is the Dream-Giver, Daniel. My usual resting place likely lies down the path behind us."
"How long from the time it is activated until you return to Dreaming?" Daniel asked.
"I will be able to resist the pull for only a short time... several minutes, perhaps, but little more. I would prefer to return to my natural form, as well."
"We'll get you back to your cave then," he promised. "Sam?"
"On it," the scientist replied, bringing up a different program on her trusty laptop. She pulled a number of gadgets and wire connectors out of her bag, removed a panel from the side of the box, and began hooking her computer into the crystal discs within. "This might take a little while," she warned.
Daniel nodded. "Thanks. Radio us when you're ready."
Turning around, he and Alaina started down the tunnel, and Mitchell and Vala picked up the rear. After a few minutes, the corridor widened out into the familiar debris-strewn cavern that was Alaina's sleeping chamber. Earlier, it had been illuminated by a small fire Vala had set, but that fire had been doused before their flight back to the garrison tower. The reddish-orange firelight had made the cave seem cozy and almost-cheerful, but the stark white lighting of the team's flashlights now made the room appear neglected and sad.
"You sure this is what you want?" Daniel asked, turning to Alaina. "We could try contacting your people for you... or maybe ask the Nox if you can come live with them."
Alaina smiled wistfully. "I am pleased to hear that the Nox yet remain in this realm, but you know I cannot do that. I will never find peace until my conflict with my sister is resolved, one way or the other."
He'd figured as much, but Daniel felt he had to make the offer any way. "Thought I'd ask. Thank you again, by the way... for doing what you could to stop Morgause from killing more people. I know you don't think you've done much to help over the years, but there's no telling what damage she might have caused if you didn't at least try to fight her."
"I'd be dead, for certain," Vala chimed in, moving to Daniel's side.
"And Jackson and I might have been killed trying to drive her off," Mitchell added.
The Red Sister bowed her head, accepting their accolades with grace. "Perhaps, then I have finally begun to atone for the pain I caused, Arturis."
"Oh, if he was still around, I think he'd forgive you," the colonel answered, oblivious to the slight pause in Alaina's speech.
"He would," Daniel agreed, lips twitching as he struggled not to smile too broadly. Meeting Alaina's wide-eyed gaze, he let his own eyes flick toward Vala meaningfully. "Your instincts have always been good."
Mitchell's radio crackled to life, and Teal'c's deep tones announced that Sam had found the algorithms necessary to re-engage the Dream-Giver. Alaina promptly removed the torc from her neck and presented it to Daniel, then sat down on the ground several paces away from the humans. She closed her eyes and put her hands to the ground, and he raised the device one last time, willing it to deactivate. When the brilliant flash of light faded away, the great red dragon once more filled much of the cavern's open floor.
"Hit the snooze button, Sam," Mitchell ordered.
The effect was immediate. Alaina's breathing began to slow, and she swayed on her forelegs before stretching them out before her and resting her head on her paws like a cat preparing for a nap.
"Thank you, Arturis," she rumbled in Daniel's mind, and closed her eyes.
"Sweet dreams, Alaina," he answered, settling the torc around the neck of a mostly-intact bust. Looking up, he nodded to Cam first, then Vala. "Let's go home."
* * *
Merlin was sitting in a chair in front of a cheery fire, and though a book lay open in his lap, his gaze was fixed on something far more distant. At Daniel's approach, the old man straightened, motioning toward a second chair near the hearth without looking up. "Have a seat, my boy."
Daniel hesitated, but after only a moment, realized Merlin was talking to him. He had a million questions running through his mind, but only one managed to reach his lips. "Was Alaina right?"
Merlin tilted his head back, a deep sigh escaping him. "Ah, Alaina... she's always had a gift for reading human emotions, but she is far less adept at anticipating consequences. Was she right about Lancelot and Guinevere? Certainly, but she acted without regard for others."
He sighed. "That's... not what I meant."
"Was she right about you and Vala Mal Doran? I think you've already found the answer to that for yourselves."
Daniel smiled. "There's no answer for that yet, but there might be one day."
"Indeed. Which brings us to the last question: was she right about who you are?" Closing his book, Merlin rose from his chair and began to pace the hearth. "Let us look at what you have accomplished in your life, my boy... You opened the stars to your people, introducing them to your past and future. You reconnected your people with each of the Four Founders, securing your place as the Fifth Race. You located, rebuilt, and deployed the Bloodstone, completing a quest I failed at a thousand years ago. Yet despite all that you have done, you are not yet finished."
Merlin stopped pacing, drew himself up straight, and looked down on Daniel with an expression of such wistfullness and joy, he could only think of it as paternal pride. "You are Daniel Jackson, son of Melburn and Claire. What more do you need to know?"
* * *
There was a soft bump, a muffled curse, and Daniel's lashes fluttered open to the dimmed lighting of the night shift.
Turning his head, he found Vala looking guiltily apologetic as she settled into the chair next to his bed, tugging one of the infirmary's cotton thermal blankets around her shoulders. "Hey, Vala."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," she apologized, one hand stealing from beneath the blanket to touch his shoulder.
"It's okay. What are you doing here?"
"Well, Mitchell didn't set up a team-member-watch rotation, so I thought I'd take care of it myself."
Daniel smiled, moving his free hand up to touch hers. "I'll be out of here in the morning... Doctor Lam's just being cautious. I thought you couldn't wait to sleep in your own bed again?"
Vala stifled a yawn. "I couldn't sleep... too many things running through my head."
"Ah, and you need to talk to get them out?"
"It couldn't hurt. I thought about grabbing Samantha for some girl talk, but..." She shrugged. "I meant what I said about Tomin, and if I had a suspicious mind, I'd say the Ori put me on Ver Isca because Tomin was the closest person they could find to you."
"Stacking the cards in their favor?" he guessed.
"Yes... ensuring I was drawn to one of their most-devoted followers, as though it might help convert me to their cause." She grimaced. "That sounds terribly self-centered when I say it aloud."
"They picked you to carry their Orici," Daniel pointed out, "so you might be right. But I think Tomin and I are different in a lot more ways than we are alike."
Vala nodded, then gave him a speculative look. "You are a unique individual, Daniel Jackson."
He chuckled, pulling her hand to his lips and gracing her knuckles with a light kiss. "As are you, Vala Mal Doran."
Pulling her hand free, she leaned her elbows on the edge of his bed and propped her chin on her hands. "I do have one question, though."
"What's that?"
"Am I going deaf, or did Alaina call you 'Arturis' today?"
"That's two questions."
"Daniel!"
He hitched himself higher on the bed, repositioning his pillow so that he could lie on his right side, facing her. "You're not, and she did."
"Arturis, as in Arthur, the 'Once and Future King'?"
"Yes."
She made a small noise of satisfaction. "That's what I thought." Straightening slightly, Vala left her elbows on the mattress and let her forearms fall across one another. "You have to admit it, the dragon lady makes a great point. According to your mission report, the people at Camelot believed that Arthur would return to reclaim the Sangreal now that that girl had pulled the sword from the stone."
"They took it as a prophetic sign, I guess."
"Uh-huh... then you found Merlin and rebuilt his weapon. And then there's the people of Cambria: their legends said that only Arthur could defeat the dragons."
"Ah, but I didn't 'defeat' anyone. You and Mitchell had more to do with driving Morgause off than I did."
"Yes, but you're the one that found Merlin's laboratory, which ultimately led to the Dream-Giver. And you heard Sam at the debriefing today: given enough time to study it, she can probably reprogram the device so that it never shuts off on its own again."
Daniel smiled. "I'll tell her to take her time... she's got roughly sixty years before it'll be needed."
"You're not going to admit to anything, are you?" she pouted.
"I can't admit to anything I don't know for certain," he pointed out, letting out a yawn of his own, followed by a deep sigh.
Vala took this as a hint for them both to go to sleep, and leaned back into her chair to snuggle beneath her borrowed blanket. There was a long moment of silence, but as Daniel felt himself drifting, she spoke again.
"One more question... this 'Once and Future King' business... does it come with any other benefits, like jewels or a crown?"
Author's Notes:
Much thanks to Pip and the Tweeps for their encouragement and commiseration throughout the writing of this fic... even though I had to keep the plot details Super Sekrit to keep Pip from realizing it was her prompt! Secondly, I also have to thank my parents for not rolling their eyes too much when I carried my laptop everywhere this holiday season (not that they'll ever read this acknowledgment, but still). Last, but certainly not least, the mahvelous Eilidh17 gets an A on her report card for her cheerleading, soundboarding, and betaing.
Make that several A's. Lots and lots of A's...