As I Stand Falling (PG)
Title: As I Stand Falling
Author: dvshipper
'Verse: Stargate SG-1
Claim/Characters/Pairing: Daniel Jackson/Vala Mal Doran
Rating: PG
Warnings/Spoilers: reference to character death
Prompt: Angst, #01 Broken(mission_insane)
Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate or its characters, I just play with them. Rob, please don't sue me, because I don't really have much money anyway.
Summary: When Daniel is ready to fall apart, Vala is there to hold him together.
A/N: Thanks to taraleesg1 for being the height of beta awesome! My table here.
"God! Why can't you just leave me in peace, for once?!?!" Daniel exploded at Vala, speaking before the words could fully register in his mind. She was being her usual, boisterous self, but this time he just didn't enjoy it the way he usually did.
"Daniel Jackson, don't you dare speak to me that way," Vala told him calmly but clearly firmly. She wasn't going to put up with his moods, today especially.
"Just leave and you won't have to listen to it. Maybe then I could think," Daniel responded, collapsing his upper body against the far wall of the room, his forehead scraping against the texture that was painted over in light grey. He was out of options, at the end of his rope, no where left to turn, all courteous manner of speaking having left him. Lashing out at Vala was the only thing needed to complete the total meltdown.
"I'm going to listen to it whether you like it or not. You cannot push me away, not now, after all that's happened." Vala neared the half-crazed man in front of her, almost afraid to try to comfort him. This was something she'd seen in other men, but never her Daniel. When Priors threatened their freedom he had tried to convince them with heated speeches full of logic and passion. He'd raised his voice at other people in front of her, but not like this. This was her Daniel, her rock, and he was crumbling to pieces, breaking apart before her eyes.
"Babe, you know it wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could have done to prevent any of this. It's over, we have to accept what's happened and deal with it," Vala told him in a soothing voice.
"Accept this? How can you possibly expect me to accept death? Sure, for you it's a fact. But if I were still with the Ancients, I could have helped him. I could have offered him something that they wouldn't," Daniel's voice trembled as he spoke, breaking with the heavy regret that clouded his mind.
"But you couldn't, because you're human again. That's a fact," Vala spoke firmly, willing the fact to take root in Daniel's mind. Blue eyes met hers in a brief moment. There wasn't just regret in those depths; there was true and passionate sadness. Never had Vala seen a man falling apart quite like this. When Daniel cared for something, he did with all his heart and soul. There was no almost or in between. That's just the way he was. And there was no doubt anymore that Daniel cared for his teammates.
"Mitchell's gone," Daniel choked out of his quickly thickening throat. In one swift movement, he threw himself into Vala's welcoming arms. As he cried out all his grief, Vala held him there, anchoring him to the earth. Everything else fell away, none of it mattering anymore. All that existed was a sorrow stricken man comforted by his lover. In the moment, and every moment after, that was all they needed.