What Was Meant-Chapter Two
What Was Meant
Chapter Two-Where Do We Go From Here
By: Assilem
Rating: PG
Series: Stargate SG-1
Pairing: Daniel/Vala, Vala/Other
Prompt: 025 of the 101 Table
Summery: He wondered why he did it...
“That was a good movie,” Craig said as he and Vala walked out of the theatre holding hands.
“I think that Tonks could have been in there more,” Vala smiled. “I like her, she’s different. Slightly misunderstood, and not like anyone else.”
Craig smiled and pulled Vala into his arms. Her smile brightened as Craig spoke. “King of like you.”
“Like me,” she said as he leaned in a brushed his lips to hers. Pulling away Vala opened her eyes and smiled. “Where now?”
“Well, if you want, the Roller dome is open, we could go skating,” Craig suggested as he laced his fingers with Vala’s for the second time.
“Sounds fun,” she smiled.
Looking at the couple one would think they were perfectly happy normal people. In reality, their lives were put on the line nearly everyday, and things as a simple movie or being out with each other were treasured and very rare.
Before she met Craig, Vala would spend time helping Daniel in his research, watching movies with Teal’c, shopping with Sam, and running around the gym with Cameron. But now, to somewhat disappointment, but mostly pleasure, she spent time with Craig. She was happy with him, happier than she’d been in a long time. The brief thought that she should have waited for Daniel flickered out of existence. For that matter this relationship with Craig wasn’t to make Daniel jealous, there was no thought of Daniel when she was with Craig.
“Are you okay?” Craig asked causing Vala to look at him.
“Absolutely perfect,” she grinned.
~
Standing in his bedroom, Daniel stared at his tie collection, trying to decide which one to wear. He had his defense this afternoon, and typical him, spent the night awake preparing, had realized the time and headed home for a shower, shave and suit. Grabbing the purple and blue striped time, he had gotten from Sam for his birthday, he put it around his neck and grabbed his jacked from the bed. Glancing at the clock, Daniel caught the time and quickly ran out of hi apartment, he needed to get to the mountain, then the airport to catch his plane to Boston to get to his defense on time.
Arriving at the mountain, Daniel made his way to his office and started to gather up his research, dissertation, and his tie still hanging loosely around his neck.
“Daniel, all dressed up,” Vala smiled walking in. “Here,” she smiled grabbing the tie and tying it, as Daniel looked at her with an expression of bewilderment. “Where are you going?”
“Oh, my uh, defense for my uh, PhD,” Daniel said shaking out of his bewilderment.
“That time already? Good luck darling,” she smiled patting his beautifully tied tie. “That should hold.”
“Thanks,” Daniel smiled leaning down and giving her a chaste kiss on the cheek. “I could never tie these myself.”
Vala smiled and shrugged. “Well, I wont hold you up, I’m going to go meet Craig for lunch. Good luck.”
“Oh right, you two are still together then?” Daniel asked, he knew they were, but he didn’t want to show that he’d been paying attention to her personal life.
“Yes Daniel,” Vala said raising her eyebrow. “I didn’t think you..."
“I heard Rae talking about it,” Daniel shrugged. “But uh, I’ll see you later. We’ll get together with Cameron and Teal’c and do a team night soon.”
“Sounds good,” Vala smiled as Daniel nodded and walked out of the room.
A small moment with Vala, not caring that she was someone else, a moment where he could just say everything was back to normal.
They had their moments, and now they were over. Vala had found someone else, and at this point, he was happy for her. Or at least pretended to be. He would think to himself, what if he took the chance, would he be in the same place as she and Craig were, would he be living this fairytale that he never thought would come true?
He honestly didn’t know, and he had to beat himself up every day, watching a woman he cared about in the arms of another man. She had given up her trying to get him, and that was his fault. He was the one that kept saying no, kept pushing her away, and she finally pulled away.
“They’re ready for you,” a voice said to Daniel, who jumped slightly.
“Oh, thank you,” he said walking into the room, a panel of ten men and women sat before him, while chairs were filled with undergrads, grad students and even a few PhD students.
“Now presenting, Doctor Daniel Jackson, for his Doctorial degree in Linguistics,” one of the men said as Daniel set up at the podium.
“Thank you,” taking a breath, Daniel looked up and looked around the room. “Good afternoon honoraries, my name is Daniel Jackson. I have three Post Doctorial degrees, and today I will be explaining to you how one common element in languages can relate them all back to the rare dialect of the ancient Egyptians.”
~~
Vala sat in the commissary with Craig, who was talking to her about a discovery he had made, but Vala wasn’t interested. She sat there, pushing her macaroni and cheese around her plate.
“You okay babe?” Craig asked looking at Vala. “You seem preoccupied.”
“Oh my uh, my...Daniel, my friend Daniel is doing a presentation and I’m just hoping he does okay,” Vala lied before smiling. “What are we doing tonight?”
“I was thinking we could go out to dinner,” Craig started. “Maybe if you’re up for it, a bit of dancing.”
“Sounds great,” Vala smiled standing up. “I’m going to go back to work however. I have to get all the artifacts that SG-5 brought back catalogued for Daniel.”
“Okay,” Craig said standing up. He walked around the table and leaned over and placed a kiss on Vala’s lip. “I’ll pick you up at your quarters around six?”
“Sure,” Vala smiled giving him a quick peck before walking away. Leaving the commissary, she headed straight for Daniel’s office. She wasn’t lying when she said she had work to do. Only mere hours ago Daniel had kissed her on the cheek. Her skin burned from where his lips touched. Daniel was not going to ruin her happiness. She was bound and determined to let hi go, which was getting easier until this morning. Shaking it off, Vala started to work. There wasn’t much to catalogue, but even after a decade, no one understood Daniel’s preference of cataloging, with the exception of her. She quite liked it that way, made her feel useful to the base.
“Hey Princess,” Cameron said poking his head into Daniel’s office where Vala was sitting, cross-legged, a clip board on her lap and boxes surrounding her. “Whatcha doin’?”
“Cataloging all the stuff SG-5 brought back,” Vala replied. “I thought Dr. Lam gave you time off because of your broken ankle?” she asked gesturing to the cast that donned his right leg.
“I was bored being stuck in my apartment, besides the guy in 5B is creeping me out.”
“Well I can’t help you tonight, Craig and I are going out,” Vala replied.
“You two pretty serious huh?” Cam questioned hobbling his way to Daniel’s couch.
“You could say that,” Vala smiled softly as she continued to write.
“What bout Jackson?”
“What about Daniel?”
“I just thought you two had made-up,” Cam shrugged. “Guess I was wrong.”
“Daniel and I are just friends, never more,” Vala said determinately.
“That doesn’t sound like you,” Cameron said poking her with one of his crutches.
“Cameron, Daniel and I are just friends. I’m seeing Craig,” she said swatting away the offending crutch.
“You happy with brain-boy?”
“Yes,” she said very softly. “Very much so.”
“Jackson is sure missing something special,” Cameron mumbled to himself. “What are you two love birds up to tonight?”
“Dinner,” Vala replied with a smile. “I read in your local newspaper that a local theatre is putting on a show entitled Guys and Dolls. What’s a theatre?”
“It’s a place where people act…kinda like…well…you know…it’s kind of like TV…but not on TV cause you’re right there…Its like live…and, ah hell, its like watching TV,” Cameron tried to explain, but giving up.
“Right,” she laughed softly. “Well, I need to finish this before Daniel gets back.”
“Where is geek?”
“His defense for his doctorate degree,” she said. “He had to fly to Boston and asked me the other day to get this done for him.”
“I’m gonna see if I can find Teal’c, maybe he’d do something with me.”
Vala laughed softly and waved as she continued her work.
~
The base was quite and only a skeleton crew was on base, as Vala and Craig walked hand in hand back to her quarters. After a night out to dinner and a show, the two decided to call it a night. It was silent when they reached Vala’s quarters. Craig’s hand gently cupped her cheek, as he leaned in and placed a kiss on her lips. Vala responded as her arms coiled around his neck. Pulling away, Vala smiled up at him. “Come on in.”
With no response other than his lips to hers again, Vala and Craig both tried to open the door as Daniel came into sight.
His eyes widened as the two disappeared into the darkened bedroom. Staring at the door, as if he saw someone cheating, as if she was cheating on him. But she couldn’t be cheating on him, they weren’t together, so why did Daniel feel like every time he saw her and Craig together that his moment with Vala was over.
But he didn’t want it to be over. He didn’t even get a chance for it to start. He should be the one in that bedroom, running his hands over Vala’s skin.
What was he jealous? Vala was never his, she was nothing more than a co-worker, a friend, a woman whom he watched from a thief and con-artist, to a woman of amazing qualities. He shouldn’t be jealous of a woman that was never his. But in that moment, he didn’t know what to think.
A few months later…
“Sam,” Daniel smiled as Sam walked out of the hanger doors. “Its good to have you back,” he said taking her into his arms for a big.
“You feel so good,” Sam smiled pulling back. “I’m glad to be back, the blonde smiled. “Vala, we need to do some major catching up. You and Craig,” she smiled and she hugged the woman.
“Defiantly,” Vala smiled, her face beaming.
“Cameron,” Sam said leaning over and hugging him. “You got the band back together again.”
“Damn straight!” Cameron chuckled patting Sam on the back. “Good to have you back.
“Thanks, where’s Teal’c?” Sam asked looking around and not seeing the Jaffa.
“Waiting for us in the car,” Daniel said as he and Sam held hands walking outside. Vala skipped beside them as Cameron lead the team outside.
Teal’c was waiting at the car and Sam’s eyes lit up and she ran to him. “TEAL’C!” she called running into his embrace. “Its so good to see you. You, I’ve missed the most.”
“Indeed, so have I Samantha,” Teal’c said hugging her tightly.
“This is cause for a celebration,” Vala grinned. “Shall we?” The rest of the team nodded and laughed as they all climbed into the vehicle.
~
“Why don’t you talk to her?” Sam asked as she and Daniel were gathering tings in the kitchen to bring outside.
“Easier said than done Sam,” Daniel sighed. “She’s with him, she’s happy, how can I ruin that for her?”
“Daniel,” Sam sighed leaning herself on the counter. “Look, I know how you feel, but you deserve to be happy too,” she said grabbing the salad bowl and all the dressing. “Oh and Daniel, use that new PhD of yours.”
Daniel stared at Sam for a moment before he grabbed the condiments and plates and headed outside behind her. Teal’c and Vala were playing Frisbee on the lawn, Cameron was cooking on the BBQ and Sam was putting the table together.
He smiled at the team and decided to just relax. As the night went by, the beer flowed slowly; Vala had discovered the joys of a trampoline and Cameron had spent the night until the darkness fell jumping with her. By the time the night fell, the team found themselves inside. Sam, Teal’c and Cameron playing playstation, and Teal’c kicking their butts, while Daniel and Vala watched them.
“I should be getting back to the base,” Vala said.
“I’ll take you,” Daniel said standing up as Sam turned and looked at him. “I need to get some stuff I left in my office.”
“Thank you Daniel,” Vala smiled. “I’ll see you three later. Have a good night, don’t do anything I would.”
Sam laughed and waved. “Goodbye you two.”
The ride to the base was quiet, Vala spent the time looking out the window. Parking, the two walked into the base.
“Do yeah want me to walk you to your quarters?” Daniel asked as he and Vala walked slowly down the empty hallways.
“Sure,” Vala smiled softly as they walked down towards her quarters. “Daniel?”
“Yeah?”
“You know you’re my best friend right?” Vala asked looking up at Daniel who nodded. “I just wanted you to know that,” she said as they reached her quarters.
Daniel looked down at Vala, her hair pulled back into an untypical ponytail, her bangs swept across her forehead. He was going to say something, but in that moment, he didn’t know what to say, so he did the first thing that came to his mind. He leaned down and captured her lips. The kiss was soft and sweet and Daniel’s arms circled around her body pulling her closer to him.
Breaking the kiss for air, Daniel looked at Vala, eyes brimming with tears, she pushed out of his arms and walked into her quarters, slamming the door. Tears running down her cheeks, Vala slunk down to the floor, burring hr face into her knees as the tears turned into sobs, and all Daniel could do was stand on the other side of the door asking why he did it.