Being Found - Chapter 5: Enter Opposition
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, Jack isn't here yet, definitely in the next chapter though, lol, it's already written so I'm sure ^_~
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
Chapter 4: Everything Burns
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Chapter 5: Enter Opposition
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Richard Woolsey refrained from fidgeting as he rode the SGC’s second elevator down to reach the 27th level. His suit was neatly pressed and his shoes were polished to a fully reflecting finish. His glasses were perched firmly on his nose and he schooled his features until he was sure that no part of his person reflected the unease he felt whenever he came to this place.
Most of the personnel in this facility were professional and courteous towards him, with only the tiniest bit of underlying hostility that Richard was very comfortable attributing to his paranoia. He was a professional himself and very serious about the responsibilities he’d been given. The most senior members of the SGC, though, made him doubt his every decision. Their passion and protectiveness toward this project surpassed anything he’d ever seen and he had to be ever vigilant around them. He wasn’t worried things would get out of hand or that they’d attack him in anyway. No, he worried about himself. Faced with their arguments and ferocious love of what they did he had to always remind himself not to let himself get caught up in the romance and adventure of it all. He couldn’t let himself be swayed to give into their plight but they were very good at making him want to.
That’s why he was nervous as he stepped out of the elevator, being escorted to the briefing room by an MP officer. He had to resist both them and himself.
It’s no wonder you’re balding.
Had the MP escort not been with him, he would have paused outside the door and taken the time to bolster his defenses but he didn’t have that luxury so he sucked it up and walked resolutely through the door.
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“General Landry.” came the very recognizable voice of Mr. Woolsey at the door of the briefing room.
Daniel watched Woolsey walk through the room with an air of exaggerated confidence and he would have sympathized with the man had he not remembered the reason he was at the SGC.
“Mr. Woolsey.” the General greeted him and gestured to SG-1 who were already sitting around the briefing table “You remember SG-1.”
An indiscernible emotion flashed through the man’s eyes before disappearing and he offered them a tense smile.
“Of course, how could I forget?” he greeted them.
“And this is Dr. Lam, the SGC’s new Chief Medical Officer.” General Landry presented his daughter and took his seat.
“Nice to meet you.” he offered her and shrunk slightly as she gave him a chilling look.
“I’m afraid the feeling isn’t mutual, Mr. Woolsey. Have you any idea of the added traumas you’re responsible for putting my patient through?” she asked him.
He looked confused but took his seat as the General motioned him to.
“I don’t understand. I requested she be restrained.” Woolsey said.
“And she was.” Daniel informed him with in a deceptively light tone. “And when she woke up with a fever of 104, she took one look at them and assumed she was taken prisoner by a Goa’uld named Ba’al. I’m sure you’ve read about him.” he finished gravely.
Woolsey glanced around the table to see accusation pouring out of the base members’ eyes. He shook his head quickly and spoke.
“I can understand how that might confuse her but what harm could it have done? They were soft manacles weren’t they, that’s what I requested. If she was so distressed by them, why not just administer a sedative?” he asked the doctor.
“We did. We believe the stress of believing she was Ba’al’s captive raised her levels of adrenaline to an amount sufficient to counteract the effects of the sedative, at least for a short time.” Dr. Lam informed the IOA representative.
“Well I’m sorry the restraints increased her anxiety, especially while she’s so wounded, but I’m afraid the council was very adamant that she be confined to her infirmary bed.” he said diplomatically, not completely uncaring of the prisoner’s state.
“Well that’s the problem, ain’t it?” Cam’s southern drawl picked up “She took one look at those cuffs and bolted. We found her on an entirely different level. You guys messed up.” he couldn’t help but add.
“She escaped the restraints?” Woolsey’s eyes were wide behind his black-rimmed glasses.
“She did, injuring two of our people.” the General added, making sure Woolsey understood he was being held responsible. It didn’t have the desired effect.
“Are you telling me that an alien escaped her restraints, attacked your people and roamed free through your base before being caught and you’d like to reprimand me for ordering the restraints in the first place?” Woolsey asked incredulously. “Are you aware of just how dangerously lax your security system must be for all of that to occur?” he accused them back and they were all caught off guard by the change of topic.
“That’s right! This woman’s delusions aside, this problem has to be addressed immediately, General. Obviously the security protocols are almost non-existent. I’ll need to use your phone to put a call through to the council. It’s a miracle Earth hasn’t been overrun by hostiles already!” he ranted in as calm a voice as he could muster and the military members at the table winced internally. The man had a good point.
“I agree, Mr. Woolsey.” said the General and Woolsey was silent with the shock that he wouldn’t be opposed on this. “It is very disturbing that a sick and injured alien managed to escape our watch and we do need to revise our security protocols immediately.” Woolsey looked satisfied. “But, that sick and injured alien is still in our infirmary and also needs to be addressed.”
Woolsey nodded, he could compromise too.
“Of course. Obviously the restraints shouldn’t be reinstated, especially if delusions are still a possibility.” he looked to Dr. Lam who nodded that they still were.
“Her temperature has stopped rising but the fever hasn’t broken yet.” she said.
“Okay, so what if we assigned two guards instead of the restraints?” he asked the General and took note of the fact that the man looked to Dr. Jackson before replying.
“Two guards shouldn’t be a problem, for the time being.” he added.
“I have a problem with that.” Carolyn said firmly “I don’t need two armed men loitering in my infirmary.”
The General sighed at his daughter’s protests.
“Couldn’t we just move her to one of the private infirmary rooms?” Sam suggested diplomatically.
The General looked around the table in askance but nobody had objections to that.
“It’s settled then, two guards in a private infirmary room.” he concluded, grateful to be done with negotiations.
“Now if we can address the matters of security?” Mr. Woolsey pressed.
“We’ll need to call in General O’Neill to evaluate the problem and the modifications.” the General warned and the wind was taken out of Woolsey’s sails. General O’Neill was no doubt a great military hero, but he wasn’t the most rational of men, and he had a very good relationship with the current President who could overrule the council at will.
“Of course.” he relented dejectedly “And several council members will need to be present as well.”
The General nodded though he was secretly deploring the idea of having international versions of this man walking through his halls.
“Dr. Lam, you’re free to return to your duties. SG-1, you’re on downtime until these issues with security are cleaned up. We’ll have to suspend all unnecessary off-world travel for the time being.” General Landry dismissed his people and motioned for Mr. Woolsey to follow him into his office to make their calls.
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SG-1 and Dr. Lam left the briefing room together and it seemed natural to head in the same direction. A few minutes later, without a real purpose, the members of SG-1 were in the infirmary, supervising Vala’s transfer to one of the infirmary’s private room. Well…supervising…the nurses actually warned them to glue themselves to the walls as they did their jobs in case they disturbed any of the extensive wiring, so they supervised from a distance. Vala hadn’t protested at the move, she hadn’t even looked at them. Her eyelids fluttered rapidly and her head moved on the pillow in the tell-tale manner of fevered dreams.
Her new room was bigger and had its own sink and cabinets filled with innocuous medical equipment such as gauze and tape. The nurses opted to simply remove the room’s original bed and roll Vala’s in to make things easier. They took her vitals again and left the team, closing the door behind them.
Daniel was grateful for his teammates’ presence as it offered a distraction from the restless woman on the bed before them. He was also a little put-out because he knew if he’d been alone in the room he’d have approached the bed. He might even have touched her hand. He shook himself out of those thoughts and reached into his pocket to take out the little wooden bird. Vala obviously hadn’t noticed it when she broke out and he’d remembered to grab it before leaving the main infirmary. He was suddenly a bit happier as he realized he had to place the bauble on the small table beside her bed, close to her.
He walked over to the table to deposit her treasure and let his gaze linger on her distressed features. He’d almost forgotten the others were there when Cameron spoke.
“She’s lookin’ better already, isn’t she?” he said and Daniel noticed they’d all approached the bed to take a better look. Teal’c was beside him, Sam was on the other side of the bed while Cameron took up position at the foot of the bed.
Daniel had been scrutinizing her, trying to assess if she truly did look better, when her fluttering eyelids stilled and then opened a crack to see them. Sam shifted beside the bed and Vala’s eyes were drawn to her. Her brows knit for a moment before she spoke.
“Sam?” she asked softly.
Sam’s eyes widened, secretly pleased to have been remembered despite the drama surrounding their meeting.
“You remembered my name.” she glowed.
Vala’s brows smoothed and she looked apologetic instead.
“I wouldn’t be too flattered, actually.” Vala said “My favourite animal back on my homeworld is called a Ysam. It’s a furry little four-legged thing, useless really, runs into walls and trees and such. They’re actually facing extinction, the environment is selecting against their overwhelming absence of intelligence…” she trailed of slowly.
Sam’s glow dimmed.
“Oh.” Sam said, a little disappointed and Cam tried to mask his snort but they both heard it. With barely opened eyes, Vala noticed Cam and smiled.
“Daniel.” she said. She turned in surprise when a voice beside her head answered her.
“I’m here, actually, Vala. That’s Cameron.” Daniel said, this whole resemblance thing people seemed to think he had with Cam was starting to get annoying. Vala looked from one man to the other and opened her eyes fully to distinguish their features. She raised an eyebrow and faced Daniel, unimpressed.
“You know, you two could at least make an effort not to dress identically. Honestly, even different colours would help.” she said in a tired voice. He rolled his eyes and her eyes trailed to his left and she gave a start when she realized what he was.
“Jaffa.” she exhaled and Daniel rushed to put her at ease.
“It’s okay Vala, he’s with us. His name is Teal’c, he’s even part of the rebel alliance.” Daniel explained and she sank back comfortably in her bed.
“Teal’c of Chulak?” she addressed the Jaffa.
He inclined his head.
“I am.” he confirmed and she grinned at him.
“You’re the shol’va, the rebel that popularized the cause.” she said with a touch of praise.
He inclined his head again.
“It is rare to be called shol’va by a smiling face.” he noted.
She adopted a casual look.
“Yes, well, anyone who’d take a piece of tree to Narsin’s head is my kind of turncoat.” she winked at him and the silent thanks was understood. His head dipped again.
They were silent for a moment before Daniel addressed her again.
“Are you feeling alright? We should really call Dr. Lam, let her know you’re awake. She should check to see if your fever’s gone down.” he told her and she smiled with closed eyes.
She reached out for the hand he’d placed on the bed rung and brought it to her forehead.
“Well, Doctor? Will I make it?” she grinned saucily and he glared at her.
“I’m not that kind of doctor.” he said, taking his hand off her forehead but not stopping her fingers from keeping a hold of his wrist. She pouted.
“Pity. I suppose it wouldn’t be right though, ethically, to get involved with one of your patients.” she mused aloud and brightened when she saw Sam trying to hide a smile.
“We’re not involved, Vala.” he told her firmly, getting flustered already. She was still fevered, how would he handle her when she was better?
“Oh? Did I just imagine that kiss in the hallway then?” she asked innocently.
His eyes grew wide with indignation.
“I did not kiss you, you kissed me!” he accused her.
“What’s this now?” Cam questioned and Daniel’s eyelids clashed closed, he’d forgotten they weren’t alone. Vala continued, absolutely unbothered by the crowd.
“Yes, that’s right, I remember now. So that makes it 4 for me and 0 for you now? Or should I count the last one on your ship as yours?” she asked with wide curious eyes.
“On the ship?” Sam asked in wonder.
“Jackson, you lied to us.” Cameron drawled “And to the United States government!” he scolded jokingly.
“I did not lie to anyone. I hardly think being kissed by a madwoman is worthy of noting to the high ranking officers of the Stargate Program.” he defended himself.
“He kissed me back.” she mock-whispered to them conspiratorially and he glared down at her, ready to snatch his hand back. She leaned back into the bed however and laced her fingers with his, bringing his hand and the rest of him closer to her.
“Don’t worry, Daniel. I’m sure we’ve got plenty of time to make sure you catch up.” she mumbled sleepily.
“I think we should get Dr. Lam before she falls asleep again.” Sam said and left the room with Cam and Teal’c in tow.
He waited until they’d left and closed the door before reaching across and placing his other hand on top of their joined ones, stroking the soft skin.
“Plenty of time...” he agreed with her previous statement quietly.
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Carolyn, Sam, Cam and Teal’c returned just as Mr. Woolsey and the two guards assigned to Vala got to her door. There was an awkward moment of silence before Dr. Lam shoved her way past them to check on her patient. She stopped before going in however, and turned to face the group.
“I’m going to examine her. You’ll have to wait outside.” she said in a tone that broke no argument before disappearing into the room and closing the door firmly behind her.
They settled themselves in the corridor for the wait and was surprised when the door opened again just a few moments later. Daniel stumbled out of the room looking very much harassed as he glared back at the closed door.
“Doc kick you out too?” Cam asked and Daniel suddenly noticed all the people in the hallway.
“Eh, yeah, who are they?” Daniel asked, gesturing to the two armed men behind Woolsey. The latter answered the question.
“These men will be guarding Ms. Mal Doran for the duration of her stay here.” Woolsey informed him.
Daniel frowned but had nothing to say. They had agreed to this compromise but that didn’t mean they had to be happy about it. All Daniel could worry about now was where exactly Woolsey saw Vala going after the ‘duration of her stay here’. Dr. Lam interrupted these thoughts as she walked out of the room.
“Her fever is finally going down and the rest of her wounds are healing well. I’ve ordered her to sleep so you’ll all have to leave.” she told them, meaning especially Woolsey and his men. They didn’t agree.
“I need to have a word with the pris-Ms. Mal Doran before the security meetings begin.” Woolsey said, barely catching himself before he incited an incident with the base’s flagship team.
Dr. Lam eventually relented. “You have five minutes.” she allowed him.
Mr. Woolsey made for the door and the MPs followed him.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Daniel questioned them.
“We’re under orders to watch the alien at all times, sir.” the senior MP answered.
“And you can’t do that from a post at the door?” Sam asked.
“It’s for national security as well as Ms. Mal Doran’s safety that the council believes it best for the guards to be placed inside the room. They can monitor her condition that way as well.” Mr. Woolsey said, misguidedly believing to earn the favour of Dr. Lam.
“That’s what I have nurses for.” she told him disapprovingly.
“I’m sorry but the decision is not up for discussion. The guards will watch her from inside the room.” Woolsey said with finality and walked into the room with the MPs, turning back once before closing the door behind him.
“Oh, by the way, General Landry asked me to inform you that General O’Neill will be delayed due to sensitive meetings. He should be here in a few days.” he said, failing to contain the glee in his voice at the thought of a few days of O’Neill-free deliberations.
They all glared at the door for several moments before finally heading off in different directions.
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The MPs took position just on the other side of the door and Richard Woolsey approached the bed slowly. The woman in it was a vision. Injuries aside, he could see what had seemingly entranced the men of this facility to bend themselves to her cause. She wasn’t the brawny, thuggish woman he’d been expecting from the description of her accomplishments. Her eyes were closed and her faced was turned away from him. He was hesitant to actually wake her if she was sleeping but this conversation had to take place, she had to know she couldn’t commit crimes against this planet and expect to be treated like a queen. His indecision over waking her was resolved as he saw a smile appear on her lips and she turned to face him, her eyes remaining closed.
“That doctor said she wouldn’t let you come back, you didn’t break the rules just for me did you?” her soft, sultry voice teased him and she opened her eyes lazily.
The amusement in her gaze evaporated in the blink of an eye to be replaced with apprehension. He didn’t move closer but she didn’t relax. She struggled to assume a better defensive position on the bed but hissed as her body screamed in protest. He put a steady hand in the air to tell her to settle down.
“It’s alright, Ms. Mal Doran. My name is Richard Woolsey, I’m a representative of the International Oversight Advisory.” he introduced himself and watched her relax a fraction before tensing as she caught the sight of the two armed guards behind him.
“Those are your guards, they’ll be present at all times from here on out.” he told her as neutrally as possible and steeled himself against the mild betrayal evident in her eyes. Obviously the members of SG-1 had misguided her into believing she had immunity here.
“I only wanted to introduce myself and offer my sympathies for the ordeal you were put through on the planet where you were found.” he told her.
“Well, that’s very kind of you.” she replied warily.
“We aren’t completely unsympathetic, Ms. Mal Doran, but you have to understand that you did commit a crime against the people of Earth and now that you are in our custody, the proper protocols must be followed.” he burst her bubble and shrank subtly back onto the bed.
“You won’t be harmed.” he rushed to reassure her “We have strict guidelines on the rights of prisoners and they will all be accorded to you. Included amongst them is the right to a fair and speedy trial after which, should you be found guilty, you will be sentenced to an appropriate penalty.”
Vala’s head was spinning and she was sure it had nothing to do with her current state of being. What had happened here? She’d just been having a pleasant time with Daniel and his friends and now they’d left and she was being sentenced for a crime they swore had been forgiven.
“Naturally the trial will have to wait until you are fit to attend it. I do hope you get well, and not just to expedite the court date.” he continued awkwardly.
She didn’t answer him, she seemed to be lost in thought.
“I’m sure the others you met meant well but you have to understand that they hold no real authority over your case so whatever they might have told you was completely out of line and most likely completely misinformed.” he told her, happy to blame them for her distress.
She still said nothing and he realized he still had many more calls to make.
“Well, I’ll be going. If you have any questions about the procedure from here on out, my name again is Richard Woolsey. I’ll be staying on base for a few days so getting a hold of me shouldn’t be a problem.” he concluded and left after nodding to the MPs.
The little man left her with the two armed guards and she glanced at them warily before letting herself fall back completely on the bed. This was a mistake, it had to be. Why would Daniel lie to her? Why have them all pretend to be nice to her? Maybe he hadn’t been pretending, the Woolly person had said they didn’t have any authority…maybe they didn’t know that. Maybe it was all just a big misunderstanding.
She berated herself silently. Since when did she start her sentences with ‘maybe’? If she didn’t know the answer definitely, then she had to create her own.
She would rest and recuperate for a couple of days before leaving this dreadful place under her own volition. It would be hard to rest knowing the two men were keeping both eyes on her but that would just give her more time to remember the layout she’d witnessed during her first break-out.
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Yes…procrastination is still plaguing me, but it gave birth to this chapter! It pushed my original chapter back and now I’ll have to change a bit of it to work with what I added here but that WILL have to wait cuz I have a 10 page essay to write before 6pm tonight…and two exams this week. *sighs* I’m so screwed! Lol, please review!
Next - Chapter 6: Enter Alliance