Being Found Chapter 4: Everything Burns
Title: Being Found
Author: Milena D.
Rating: T+ for now
Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure, etc. Daniel/Vala all the way ;)
SPOILERS: Up to Prometheus Unbound which is the 12th episode of Season 8, I believe. And although I’m not using any parts of Seasons 9 or 10 yet, I am taking the creative liberty of bringing the team together to include Daniel, Teal’c, Sam, Cameron, Dr. Lam and General Landry. Jack will be making an appearance too! ^_~
Summary: What if Daniel and Vala had been reunited soon after Prometheus Unbound, before any of Season 9?
Author’s Note: Okay, I know I told most of you that you’d have to wait till next week but my procrastinating spirit kicked in and produced my longest chapter yet at 12 pages in Word!! And I think it’s much better than the last where I posted half-dazed on painkillers -_-; I reread chapter 3 and almost died of mortification at how many typos and personal notes I left in it…sorry!! Hope this makes up for it!
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything pertaining to the show Stargate SG-1 or Reader’s Digest…you’ll understand that last one later on…
Chapter 1: Someone's Knockin'
Chapter 2: Run, Run Away, Little Girl
Chapter 3: Fly, Little Bird
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Chapter 4: Everything Burns
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Daniel had been trying in vain to concentrate on the Ancient translations he’d been working on when Jeim Salesh had contacted the SGC. An hour had flown by, then two, before he realized it was already night and he’d barely translated half the tablet. There was a knock on the doorframe and he looked up to see his teammates laden with trays from the cafeteria. He hadn’t eaten all day but he found he wasn’t really hungry.
“Jackson, chow time.” said the ever exuberant Cameron placing an extra tray full of non-descript food items Daniel doubted would pass prison health inspections.
“Thanks.” he said as the others so kindly cleared his desk of its carefully organized chaos to make room for their suppers.
They ate in silence for a few minutes, Daniel taking a few bites to avoid their concern, before Cameron couldn’t keep quiet anymore.
“So, I read every mission report you guys ever wrote, including Jackson’s starring the lady laid up in the infirmary, and I don’t know about you guys,” he said addressing Sam and Teal’c “but I’m definitely feeling like I got the Reader’s Digest version of a multi-volume epic.”
Daniel’s blank face, the look he’d develop to fend off Jack over the years, stared at him.
“Care to clue us in to the deleted scenes?” Cam pressed.
They were all looking at him with varying degrees of curiosity but he said nothing as he thought of the bits he had left out of his report. For instance, he’d written about how she’d healed him with the modified Goa’uld healing device after she’d shot him. He’d neglected to mention, however, how she’d slowly sidled up to him and lowered herself sensually onto his lap to do it. He remembered typing up the details of the right jab she’d thrown at his face and the kick that had sent him flying over the console but he doubted if Mitchell had read about her thighs clamping down around his head, he’d left that out for some reason. And they all knew how she’d knocked him out with a head-butt only to be rendered unconscious by his zat blast. Somehow though, the scene where she’d sat snugly on his lap and pulled him to her for stolen kisses had not made the final cut.
“Jackson?” Cameron’s voice cut through his musings and he returned to the conversation.
“Sorry, Cam, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” he shrugged and picked up another forkful of what he’d been told was meatloaf.
His teammate’s eyes narrowed at him doubtfully. Daniel wasn’t a very good liar, they all knew there was more to the story but no one was going to push it. Especially not Cam, why push his luck when he’d finally got SG-1 back together…temporarily anyway.
“So when is Woolsey supposed to arrive?” Sam asked before taking a bite of her sandwich.
“RichardWoolsey is due to arrive in one hour.” Teal’c reminded them all with a hint of displeasure at the thought of the loathed man being in their presence.
“Does he really have the authority to do anything?” Cam asked.
“The IOA controls the funding, they can pretty much do anything unless the President steps in.” Daniel said dejectedly.
Daniel’s phone rang suddenly and he wiped his hands before pushing himself away from his bench to reach the receiver.
“Dr. Jackson.” he said into the phone.
The others saw his eyes widen and they put their own suppers down.
“When?” he demanded, standing up. The others copied his action.
“Where?”
He listened a moment and hung up, heading for the door.
“Vala’s escaped from the infirmary.” he told them, grabbing his jacket as his teammates followed him out of his office for the nearest armory.
“She escaped?” Cam asked astonished. “She’s had the daylights beaten out of her, was put on sleepers and was cuffed to her bed! How in the hell did she escape!?”
“She’s very resourceful.” Daniel said simply as his forehead adopted its state of perpetually knit brows.
“She has formidable spirit.” Teal’c noted as well.
“That too.” Daniel said distractedly as they arrived at the armory. They donned Kevlar vests and Zat guns, strapping guns to their thighs only as a precaution.
“Where did they say she was?” Cam asked, all business.
“They spotted her on the Level 20 cameras, SG-6 is already there. SG teams 3 and 7 are on the floor above and SG teams 2 and 4 are on the floor below.” Daniel said and they made their way down the two levels.
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They were met on Level 20 by SG-6 and Dr. Lam who wasn’t too happy to have armed men hunting down her severely wounded patient.
“She is under heavy sedation and more wounded than you four have ever been together!” she told them sternly “This is not the time to be trigger-happy little soldiers. If I find a new hole in her when this is all over, I’ll make sure none of you can sit right for a month.”
Cameron took a moment to admire the fear this small woman could inspire in the four marines before addressing the problem.
“Guns are out, use your zats and only if absolutely necessary.” he ordered them and Carolyn was relieved.
Getting her authority recognized had been difficult since her arrival on base a few short months ago. It was a well-known fact that every single member of the SGC had liked and respected the late Dr. Fraiser. She’d been a formidable woman despite her needles which Carolyn suspected was a long-running joke she’d never be privy to. She knew the cold treatment she’d been getting from some of the personnel wasn’t meant to be a personal attack against her, they were just defending the memory of one of their own. She also knew her lack of charming people skills didn’t help her any but it didn’t stop her from wanting that, she wanted to be one of their own…not that she’d ever admit it.
Cameron turned to the partially mollified doctor. “How did she get out and is she armed?”
Dr. Lam sighed and followed the two teams as they made their way down the corridors as silently as possible.
“I don’t know. When I went to check on her, my nurse was out cold on the floor and Ms. Mal Doran was gone. I think she must have a scalpel on her because her bonds were cut and I couldn’t find any sharp instruments around the bed but I have no idea how she could have gotten hold of it. We certainly don’t make a habit of leaving them lying around.” she explained with well controlled frustration.
“Okay, so this should be a breeze. She’s not gonna chuck her only weapon at someone so one zat blast and we’ve got her back in her bed before our supper gets cold.” Cam said.
“But why is she running in the first place? I mean, forgetting the sedation, what was her motivation to leave the infirmary?” Sam questioned.
“Well she was strapped to the bed with pretty heavy duty restraints.” Daniel said and Dr. Lam had the good grace to look guilty.
“It’s not just that.” Carolyn continued “I doubt if she’s thinking rationally at all. The infection from the wounds on her back produced a steadily climbing fever despite the antibiotics. It’s exactly what I was worried about. The antibiotics will ultimately heal her but they’re chasing after the fever and it’s always one step ahead. We need to get her fever to break to give the medication a chance.”
“So wouldn’t the fever just knock her out? We could find her passed out soon, right?” Col. Barnes, SG-6’s leader, asked softly as they continued their trek through Level 20.
Dr. Lam pursed her lips and shook her head.
“Unlikely. Her fever was up to 104 Farenheit last time it was taken, high enough to cause delusions but not enough to cause sufficient damage to render her unconscious.” she explained before continuing with a curious tone “Especially if losing a third of her blood, being severely injured and being pumped with sedatives weren’t enough to keep her down.”
She looked back to Daniel.
“Is there something special about her physiology I should know because I would hate to find her just to have her break out again because our medical technology is useless to her.”
Daniel tore his eyes from the corridors to look at the frowning woman. He shrugged.
“I only know that she was host to a Goa’uld for a pretty long time and that the Tok’ra removed the symbiote ten years ago.” he repeated what Vala had told him on the Prometheus as he carefully rounded another corner to face another empty hall.
“Are you sure?” she threw back quietly.
“Sure about what?” he mumbled.
“Are you sure they removed the symbiote?” she elaborated and they all stopped in their tracks to look at Daniel with wide eyes. He didn’t have anything but her word that what she told him was true, and he knew her word was shaky at best. She could operate Goa’uld technology so she had to have been blended with a symbiote at some point in her life, but was she free of it?
“You mean we could have a Goa’uld running around free on the base?” Cam demanded as Daniel was still thinking.
“Sam, Teal’c, did you feel a symbiote?” asked Cam.
“We can detect the presence of naquadah, Col.Mitchell, not the actual symbiote.” Teal’c replied and Cam let out a frustrated sigh.
“Jackson!?”
“No, it has to be out.” he said finally and raised his head to face them all. “She could have fought off the mercenaries if she’d still had the symbiote. She could have fought us off. She’d be half healed by now. And besides,” he affirmed turning to Dr. Lam “you took scans of her head right? And they were clear?”
“I didn’t see anything abnormal but I have no actual experience with Goa’uld or symbiotes.”
They all let out a sigh of relief.
“Trust me Doc, you couldn’t have missed a snake in the scan. Alright, let’s keep moving.” Col. Barnes ordered and they resumed their march.
They walked silently around more bends for a few minutes until they got to a split. The corridor here split into two and joined up later to form a square as seen from the top.
“You wanna take left?” Col. Barnes asked Cameron.
“Sure, we’ll see you in the middle.” he replied and the teams separated before being halted by Teal’c’s quiet command.
“Wait.” he said and moved to the floor of the corridor on the right. He crouched down and wiped a dark speck off the ground to reveal blood. Vala had passed here.
“Okay, change of plans. We’re going after Jackson’s girl, you guys go around back and cut her off.” Cam said ignoring Daniel half protest at his description of Vala.
“Gotcha, good luck.” Col. Barnes motioned his team to the left and caught Dr. Lam’s warning just as they disappeared around the corner.
“No guns, Col.!” she whispered as loudly as she dared and gave them a stern look to back it up before following behind SG-1.
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Vala was leaning on the wall with every step she took now. Head-butting that Goa’uld that tried to inject her with something had been a bad idea she realized now as her cranium had protested every step of the way. She was so sluggish, and she kept tripping but she couldn’t see what was in her path. She knew she must have been given the Blood of Sokar. It was the only explanation. She’d made off with many of Ba’al’s precious toys and he obviously wanted them back. Well she wouldn’t be fooled. She knew these unfamiliar walls were just an illusion and that she must really in a mothership but it was very hard to navigate through the ship without the visual clues she was used to.
She realized suddenly that she wasn’t moving anymore. Her vision was so blurry. As she swayed backwards, she realized that her vision wasn’t blurry, she was just too close to the wall. She heard a ping of metal dropping and turned around quickly to defend herself. The corridor was still empty. She was hearing ghosts, nothing more.
Okay, deep breath. Aaaand right foot forward, then left and then we can try for the right one again.
She did as she instructed herself and found she was making progress. Now, this being a mothership, there should be an access hatch around here where she could get to a small ship and escape. But where the hell was it? All she could see here were strangely marked doors without any knobs. They had a keypad but they weren’t crystals and she couldn’t seem to focus enough to understand how they functioned.
How did she even get captured? She was usually so good at leaving no trail to follow. Blue eyes swam across her mind and she had to stop for a moment as other strange pictures assaulted her. Night. Trees. Blue eyes. Daniel? From the ship she’d tried to steal? No, not on the ship. It was night and he was there and then…
She shook her head. It didn’t matter how she’d gotten there, she just needed to leave.
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Daniel bent down besides a bloody footprint on the floor to pick up the abandoned scalpel. His head snapped up when he heard a zat firing. Cam motioned them to be quiet and Daniel stood again, quickly handing Dr. Lam the scalpel and returning to the front of the party.
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Vala rounded the corner and jumped back as she made eye contact with the business end of a zat'n'ktel.
Ba’al’s Jaffa.
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Col. Barnes cursed when the woman found them before SG-1 had a chance to find her. If she was in fevered delusions, which her wild eyes seemed to indicate, it was Dr. Jackson who had the best chance of talking her down.
“Gotcha now.” he heard Lt. Fisher say quietly.
The alien woman had obviously heard him and he turned to tell the idiot lieutenant to shut up. She wasn’t as debilitated as she seemed however. He was made aware of that as she snapped a kick to Airman Ryan’s arm too quickly for him to stop. His zat was in the air and she lunged to grab it shooting him before they had time to unfold theirs. She only got one shot off before running back around the corner.
Lt. Brooks checked on Ryan while Col. Barnes radioed SG-1.
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“Col. Mitchell, be advised, the woman is backtracking quickly with a zat gun. I repeat, she’s armed and headin’ your way.”
“Shit.” Cam cursed quietly as Daniel’s mind raced.
“Guys, go back a turn, let me try to calm her down first.” Daniel asked his teammates.
“And if she shoots you on sight? She didn’t recognize you for awhile there on the ship.” Cam reminded him.
“Then you’ll be ready to take her down when she turns the corner.” he said simply.
“That’s a good plan.” Dr. Lam endorsed, liking any plan that meant a higher survival rate for her patient.
Cam sent a glance to the others, they knew Jackson and his abilities better than he did and they seemed okay with his plan.
“Okay, we’ll be right over there.” he said pointing to the next turn but he frowned as Jackson handed his zat and thigh gun to Dr. Lam.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“What? Would you trust someone who was armed when you were suffering from delusions? Go, I’ll be fine.” Daniel shooed them away.
Cam didn’t like it but this was the infamous SG-1 after all, this could work out. They made their way around the bend and took up defensive positions.
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Daniel followed the corridor wall on the far side to be sure to see her in advance. It was in vain however, as neither saw the other first and she crashed into him from her sprint away from the other team. They fell sideways and Daniel quickly wrapped his arm around her waist to twist them, taking the brunt of the fall on his back with a protesting Vala secured to his chest.
“Vala wait!” he cried as he heard the zat gun charge.
Her knees settled on the floor on either side of his hips as she pushed herself up, keeping a staying hand on his chest, zat pointed at his head.
“Vala,” he started as calmly as he could “do you recognize me?”
She cocked her head to the side and shook her head subtly before entirely changing her demeanor.
“Of course I recognize you! I stole your ship, it was remarkably easy for people of such advanced technology.” she smirked at him weakly before licking her dry lips and wiping her brow.
Dr. Lam was right, Vala was definitely in the throes of a high fever. Her face was flushed and her skin burned him everywhere they touched.
“Right, and then you lost the ship to us and escaped.” he reminded her softly, pushing himself to his elbows slowly.
Her eyes were puzzled but she nodded.
“Yes, I did. I escaped fair and square, didn’t I?” she recalled proudly.
“And then you got in more trouble and my team and I went to help you out of it.” Daniel recounted, pushing himself up further so that he was supported on his outstretched arms.
“Yes…no.” she shook her head. “No, Ba’al…double-crossed me and then…then, I double-crossed him.” she said slowly, trying to organize the timeline in her head. “And then, he got angry and…and then…”
She trailed off, no longer remembering what happened after and Daniel’s brow furrowed in concern. Why would she think of Ba’al? Was this actually a delusion or was it a memory? He remembered Jack’s recounting of his torture at Ba’al’s hands. The sadistic bastard had been into more inventive, chemical kinds of…ah crap. He suddenly understood her assumptions. Before he had a chance to speak however, she seemed to notice him anew and she brought her face down to his with wide, concerned eyes, laying a very warm on his cheek.
“Daniel, what are you doing here?” she asked in concern.
“Don’t worry, Ba’al won’t find us.” she promised “I used to be a host…I know these, um…” she tried to gesture with closed eyes to substitute for her missing vocabulary.
“Ha’tak?” he offered the Goa’uld word for the motherships and her eyes flew open.
“Yes! I know them well. Come on, there are Jaffa right behind us.” she said, getting off of him quickly. Too quickly, apparently, since her head spun and Daniel leapt up to steady her, surreptitiously snaking the zat gun out of her hand and onto his belt. He backed her gently to the wall so she could lean against it.
“Vala, I need you to listen to me, really listen.” he cupped her face to make sure she was paying attention but she tried to break free.
“No, Daniel, we don’t have time. Ba’al’s Jaffa, they were just around the corner! We have to go now!” she said, getting agitated.
“No, Vala. There aren’t any Jaffa coming.” he said strongly, keeping her pinned loosely to the wall.
“But I - ” she protested, twisting her neck to peer anxiously down the corridor, expecting the Jaffa to bear down on them at any moment.
“Vala, listen to me.” Daniel said, guiding her face back to with a strong hand on her cheek.
“Vala, you’re not on Ba’al’s ship, do you understand?” her brow furrowed suspiciously but she was still listening and his thumb stroked her cheek twice before he caught it.
“My teammates and I saved you from the villagers on Plitis, remember?” She obviously did as the simple name of the planet caused her eyes to grow round in apprehension.
“We save you and took you back to our planet to heal you, it’s called Earth. Do you remember the trip?” he asked her earnestly and she tried to remember but shook her head nervously as no memories came to her.
“You were mostly unconscious, you’re pretty badly hurt.” he conceded and his hands traveled down to her arms. She followed his hands and noticed the purple and black bruises on her arms with wonder.
“The Talkenans…” she mumbled and he nodded.
“Yeah, we’re pretty sure they did that, but you’re safe from them now. You’re on an entirely different planet, a highly fortified one at that. No one gets in without special authorization.” he reassured her.
“But Ba’al…” she started as she remembered the state she woke up in.
“No, Vala. You woke up in our infirmary, where we treat the wounded and the sick. The tubes were medicine, medicine you really need to get back to.” he said as he felt her skin radiating extreme heat. He could only imagine how much higher her fever might have climbed under all this stress.
“You have a very high fever, Vala, that’s why you’re so warm and why you can’t think straight. We have to get you back to the infirmary right now.” he insisted but she frowned doubtfully at him.
“If what you’re saying is true, if I’m simply…thinking unreal things because I’m sick…” she raised an eyebrow and pushed his hands off her arms “how do I know you’re really real? You could be a very pretty Jaffa come to take me back to your master.” she accused him.
Ohh, he’d really been hoping she wasn’t lucid enough to think of that. He sighed and looked straight into her eyes.
“You’re just going to have to trust me, Vala.”
She snorted but she didn’t move away from her position between him and the wall.
“I know this might shock you, but I’m not the most trusting of people.” she told him glibly.
“Look, you’re going back to the infirmary one way or another.” he said impatiently “We’re blocked off on either side by two teams ready to shoot you unconscious if you don’t cooperate.”
She studied him silently for a moment, judging his sincerity.
“Are you really my Daniel?” she asked him quietly, trying to keep her eyes from closing as fatigue overtook her. Daniel closed his own eyes briefly and chose to ignore the possessive pronoun.
“Yes, Vala, it’s me.” he promised.
She scrutinized him another moment and lifted her hand to his jaw, feeling his five o’clock shadow coming in. Before he could register the move, she raised herself to the tips of her feet and had pressed her lips fully to his. In the same manner as their stint on the Prometheus, Daniel was helpless to stop his mouth from automatically opening to kiss her back. This time though, he had the presence of mind to remember the bigger picture. Okay, truthfully, the unnatural heat emanating from Vala’s lips reminded him but that wasn’t important. He was about to push her away gently when she lowered herself back onto her heels, her hands taking their place on his chest. Her eyes were closed as she licked her lips slowly and finally smiled, bringing her eyes up to his again and nodding.
“You are my Daniel, Daniel.” she informed him and he couldn’t help but let out a small, slightly hysterical, laugh.
“You’ll come to the infirmary then?” he asked her softly. She dropped her head to his chest and nodded again before stilling.
“Why was I in restraints Daniel?” she asked him, suddenly wary once more but too comfortable to move away from him. Her head was moved back and forth on his chest as he let out a large sigh.
“That was a ridiculous decision made by even more ridiculous people.” he told her and pushed her back to see her properly. “I won’t let them do that to you again.” he promised her and she nodded sluggishly, finally giving in to fatigue. He felt Vala begin to slump against him and radioed his team.
“Guys, I’m coming out with Vala. She’s okay and we’re walking out, no force required.” he cautioned them.
“Understood, we’ll wait for you here.” Cam’s digitized voice answered him.
He looked down and nudged Vala gently.
“Hey, time to go, are you ready?”
She shook her head. “Too tired.” she said petulantly and he tried to smother his grin. He bent down and wrapped his left arm under her knees, supporting her back with his right. He straightened himself and her head fell naturally to his shoulder, her arms winding themselves around his neck automatically. She hissed as the wounds on her back rubbed against his arm and her ribs were slightly compressed by her position but she refused to let him put her down. Once she was settled as comfortably as possible, she kept her eyes closed but forced herself to stave off sleep until she’d said something.
“I’m glad your manners toward ladies have improved slightly since the last time you carried me.” she commented and he chuckled softly.
“You are not a lady, Vala, you’re a fruitcake.” he informed her.
She didn’t answer but he looked down to see a soft smile on her sleeping face.
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The sight of Daniel carrying the woman who’d turned the base upside down, peacefully sleeping in his arms, was not quite what Cameron had been expecting but for all he knew this was routine for SG-1. Dr. Lam darted forward to check on her patient before Daniel had fully come into their sight. She pressed her hand to Vala’s forehead in a less technical but time honored tradition and declared her fever to be worse than earlier but not by much. She listened to her heart quickly as the woman slept and ordered Daniel to bring her back to the infirmary immediately.
SG-6 was dismissed and SG-1 would accompany Dr. Lam and Vala back to the infirmary before reporting to General Landry. In the elevator, Sam looked down at her watch and bit her lip.
“Woolsey should be arriving any moment now.” she told them worriedly.
“Oh, this is not gonna go over well.” Cam said tiredly.
“Well the restraints weren’t so effective” Carolyn started and rushed to continue as her four companions gave her unimpressed looks. “Obviously they only exacerbate the situation so I’m officially retracting my recommendation…but I still feel she’s in too delicate a condition to leave the infirmary so…at least they can’t get her there.” she offered them.
“Thank you, Carolyn.” said Daniel sincerely.
Her expression didn’t change, but she felt, for the first time since she’d arrived here, that the shoes the late, well-loved Dr. Fraiser had left her might not be so impossible to fill after all.
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That’s chapter 4! Hope you liked it! And I hope you like Jack cuz he’s coming over soon, chapter 4.5 is already written but there’s another piece to add so I might break it up into two smaller chapters…I’m rambling, please review!!!
And thanks so much to all those who reviewed anonymously and thanks for all your concern, I’m feeling much better now!
^_^ Never mind laughter, I think reviews are the best medicine ^_~
Next - Chapter 5: Enter Opposition