The Games People Play Chapter 37--The Duel
Title: The Duel
Author: Lionchilde
Summary: AU Cam and Vala settle a debate.
Rating: PG
Length: Around 900 words
Category: Humor/Romance
Pairings/Characters: D/V. S/J and Cam/Carolyn. Team friendship.
A/N: Part 37 of The Games People Play. The series follows current canon to the end of 10x09, Company of Thieves. After that we kind of skip ahead and assume a resolution to the Ori conflict since I hadn't seen any of the second half of s10 when I started it. Thanks to aruna7 for helping me figure out what movies were playing in January. Written for fic101. 10hugs and sg_15_fics.
The Duel
Since Vala had given Teal'c a new Star Wars box set for Christmas, the Jaffa had decided to donate his old Star Wars movies to her growing DVD collection. Vala liked the Prequel Trilogy best, while Cam liked the Original Trilogy, After some debate, they finally decided to watch A New Hope, which was the only one of the three original movies to feature Obi-Wan in a prominent role.
Cam carried the popcorn back to the couch while Vala busied herself with the DVD. He propped his feet on the coffee table, cradling the bowl in one arm, and grabbed handful. Then he held his hand above his face, idly letting the drop into his mouth a few at a time. Spike squeezed himself between the table and the couch and sat there looking up at him with such a forlorn expression that the Lieutenant Colonel smirked and tossed some of them in the puppy's direction.
"I still think you only like the prequel movies 'cause you think Obi-Wan's hot," Cam told Vala.
"I do not," she replied, giving his crossed feet a swat as she walked around the table and flopped onto the couch beside him. "Well. Yes, I do. But that's not why I like the prequels. Alec Guinness isn't the least bit attractive in A New Hope, and I still like Obi-Wan."
Cam shrugged. "Okay. Guess You got a point. So, why do you like Obi-Wan so much?"
"He intrigues me," said Vala as she picked up the remote to turn on the previews. "Besides, the fight scenes are much better in the prequels."
"The fight scenes?" Cam raised his eyebrows.
"Mmm," she nodded. "Look at all that spinning and cartwheeling Darth Maul does."
"I thought you said he was creepy," Cam reminded her.
"He is creepy, but that doesn't make his sword fighting less impressive. And that scene in the second movie where Obi-Wan absorbs Dooku's Force lightning with his lightsaber!" Vala went on.
"Yeah, but I mean, the Luke/Vader duels are classic!" argued Cam. "When those movies came out, kids'd be running around with brooms and mop sticks, pretending they was Luke and Vader."
"Well, my dear Colonel, I don't have your cultural bias," Vala pointed out.
"Right," Cam laughed. "Nevermind, let's just watch the movie."
Vala nodded agreement, reaching for a handful of popcorn. They managed to get through the rest of the previews and into the opening crawl before she said anything else, which was about what he'd expected. Vala then started a running commentary, which didn't let up until Obi-Wan showed up in the Jundland Wastes to rescue Luke from the Sandpeople. Once he was on screen, she finally fell silent, and Cam had to laugh to himself. He would have expected Vala to like Han Solo far more than any of the Jedi, but it seemed like she always fell for the intellectual types.
She didn't say much until the Vader duel started, and then she became more interested in talking about how little sense it made that Obi-Wan lost than in actually watching the duel. This led to another debate about whether the Original Trilogy was better than the prequels, which wasn't settled until Vala sprang off the couch and disappeared into the closet beside her bathroom.
"I know how to settle this!" her voice drifted out to him.
"What?" Cam called. "Vala, what are you doing?"
She reappeared a few seconds later, toting a broom in one hand and a mop in the other, and bounded back over to him. Spike, who had been dozing on the couch, now cocked his hears and sat up, puzzled by the strange antics of his owner. Vala tossed the mop to Cam and then flipped the broom upside down to begin taking off the head.
"What are you doing?" Cam repeated, though he already had a fairly good idea what she had in mind.
"You did mention duels, didn't you?" she arched an eyebrow.
"Uh…?"
"Come on, Mitchell," she urged. "You don't mean to tell me that after all the practice you've had with swords and krantu staffs since I've known you , you're afraid you'd lose to me with a broom?"
"Lose!" Cam sat forward sharply.
Vala gave a slow smile and spun the broom handle in a blatant challenge. "I think that's what I said."
"All right," Cam snapped to his feet, quickly unscrewing the mop head. "That's it!"
The pair quickly grabbed either end of the coffee table and pushed it back against the couch. Then they walked into the center of the room, eyed each other for a few seconds, and hefted their weapons, tossing them from hand to hand experimentally. Spike sprang off the couch and scampered excitedly between them, but scurried off again as soon as Vala's broomstick made a swift cut toward Cam's shoulder. He raised his mop handle to block, then slashed downward, trying for her knee. She stepped back, catching the blow easily on the side of her stick, but Cam pressed in with a flurry of quick stabs and slashes designed to put her on the defensive.
His advantage didn't last long. Vala leapt backwards, landing catlike on the arm of her easy char, then vaulted off again, somersaulting over his head. As she landed, she jabbed the broom handle backwards, and he barely managed to pivot and angle to mop in order to avoid a blow to the stomach. Then he lunged, slashing toward her wrist in an effort to knock the weapon from her hand.
Vala sidestepped, moving back toward the door as she whirled the broomstick out of his reach. He followed, and the battle spilled out into the hall. Spike ran after them, barking in agitation as the laughing combatants fought their way through the corridor past stunned Air Force officers and civilian personnel.
Cam ducked to avoid a blow to the head, then twisted to fend off another strike of Vala's broomstick, and caught sight of Jackson as he raced around the corner. The stunned archaeologist skidded to a halt and his mouth dropped open. Carolyn appeared next, followed by a security detail, who had probably been alerted by the noise of the clashing mock-weapons and the barking beagle.
"Vala! Mitchell! Are you both crazy?" Jackson yelled.
Before either of them could muster an answer, the elevator door at the end of the hall slid open. Teal'c and Bra'tac strode out into the chaos, and the Master shot a questioning glance at his former pupil. Spike ran over to them, pressing himself against Teal'c's leg, and the Jaffa quickly bent to pick up the puppy.
"I believe they are attempting to reenact a well known duel between legendary warriors Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi," he explained calmly to Bra'tac, hugging the worried dog against his chest.
"Ah," nodded Bra'tac. "It would appear that ValaMalDoran has taken on the role of Darth Vader."
"What?" Cam's head swiveled toward them. "Vader kills Obi-Wan on the Death Star!"
Vala took advantage of his momentary distraction to wrest the mop handle from his grip. It flew out of his hand, spinning away to clatter against the wall, and she held her broom against his neck with a bright grin. "See?"
"Listen, Vala, don't kill him," Carolyn spoke up. "We've still got a movie date tonight."
Author: Lionchilde
Summary: AU Cam and Vala settle a debate.
Rating: PG
Length: Around 900 words
Category: Humor/Romance
Pairings/Characters: D/V. S/J and Cam/Carolyn. Team friendship.
A/N: Part 37 of The Games People Play. The series follows current canon to the end of 10x09, Company of Thieves. After that we kind of skip ahead and assume a resolution to the Ori conflict since I hadn't seen any of the second half of s10 when I started it. Thanks to aruna7 for helping me figure out what movies were playing in January. Written for fic101. 10hugs and sg_15_fics.
The Duel
Since Vala had given Teal'c a new Star Wars box set for Christmas, the Jaffa had decided to donate his old Star Wars movies to her growing DVD collection. Vala liked the Prequel Trilogy best, while Cam liked the Original Trilogy, After some debate, they finally decided to watch A New Hope, which was the only one of the three original movies to feature Obi-Wan in a prominent role.
Cam carried the popcorn back to the couch while Vala busied herself with the DVD. He propped his feet on the coffee table, cradling the bowl in one arm, and grabbed handful. Then he held his hand above his face, idly letting the drop into his mouth a few at a time. Spike squeezed himself between the table and the couch and sat there looking up at him with such a forlorn expression that the Lieutenant Colonel smirked and tossed some of them in the puppy's direction.
"I still think you only like the prequel movies 'cause you think Obi-Wan's hot," Cam told Vala.
"I do not," she replied, giving his crossed feet a swat as she walked around the table and flopped onto the couch beside him. "Well. Yes, I do. But that's not why I like the prequels. Alec Guinness isn't the least bit attractive in A New Hope, and I still like Obi-Wan."
Cam shrugged. "Okay. Guess You got a point. So, why do you like Obi-Wan so much?"
"He intrigues me," said Vala as she picked up the remote to turn on the previews. "Besides, the fight scenes are much better in the prequels."
"The fight scenes?" Cam raised his eyebrows.
"Mmm," she nodded. "Look at all that spinning and cartwheeling Darth Maul does."
"I thought you said he was creepy," Cam reminded her.
"He is creepy, but that doesn't make his sword fighting less impressive. And that scene in the second movie where Obi-Wan absorbs Dooku's Force lightning with his lightsaber!" Vala went on.
"Yeah, but I mean, the Luke/Vader duels are classic!" argued Cam. "When those movies came out, kids'd be running around with brooms and mop sticks, pretending they was Luke and Vader."
"Well, my dear Colonel, I don't have your cultural bias," Vala pointed out.
"Right," Cam laughed. "Nevermind, let's just watch the movie."
Vala nodded agreement, reaching for a handful of popcorn. They managed to get through the rest of the previews and into the opening crawl before she said anything else, which was about what he'd expected. Vala then started a running commentary, which didn't let up until Obi-Wan showed up in the Jundland Wastes to rescue Luke from the Sandpeople. Once he was on screen, she finally fell silent, and Cam had to laugh to himself. He would have expected Vala to like Han Solo far more than any of the Jedi, but it seemed like she always fell for the intellectual types.
She didn't say much until the Vader duel started, and then she became more interested in talking about how little sense it made that Obi-Wan lost than in actually watching the duel. This led to another debate about whether the Original Trilogy was better than the prequels, which wasn't settled until Vala sprang off the couch and disappeared into the closet beside her bathroom.
"I know how to settle this!" her voice drifted out to him.
"What?" Cam called. "Vala, what are you doing?"
She reappeared a few seconds later, toting a broom in one hand and a mop in the other, and bounded back over to him. Spike, who had been dozing on the couch, now cocked his hears and sat up, puzzled by the strange antics of his owner. Vala tossed the mop to Cam and then flipped the broom upside down to begin taking off the head.
"What are you doing?" Cam repeated, though he already had a fairly good idea what she had in mind.
"You did mention duels, didn't you?" she arched an eyebrow.
"Uh…?"
"Come on, Mitchell," she urged. "You don't mean to tell me that after all the practice you've had with swords and krantu staffs since I've known you , you're afraid you'd lose to me with a broom?"
"Lose!" Cam sat forward sharply.
Vala gave a slow smile and spun the broom handle in a blatant challenge. "I think that's what I said."
"All right," Cam snapped to his feet, quickly unscrewing the mop head. "That's it!"
The pair quickly grabbed either end of the coffee table and pushed it back against the couch. Then they walked into the center of the room, eyed each other for a few seconds, and hefted their weapons, tossing them from hand to hand experimentally. Spike sprang off the couch and scampered excitedly between them, but scurried off again as soon as Vala's broomstick made a swift cut toward Cam's shoulder. He raised his mop handle to block, then slashed downward, trying for her knee. She stepped back, catching the blow easily on the side of her stick, but Cam pressed in with a flurry of quick stabs and slashes designed to put her on the defensive.
His advantage didn't last long. Vala leapt backwards, landing catlike on the arm of her easy char, then vaulted off again, somersaulting over his head. As she landed, she jabbed the broom handle backwards, and he barely managed to pivot and angle to mop in order to avoid a blow to the stomach. Then he lunged, slashing toward her wrist in an effort to knock the weapon from her hand.
Vala sidestepped, moving back toward the door as she whirled the broomstick out of his reach. He followed, and the battle spilled out into the hall. Spike ran after them, barking in agitation as the laughing combatants fought their way through the corridor past stunned Air Force officers and civilian personnel.
Cam ducked to avoid a blow to the head, then twisted to fend off another strike of Vala's broomstick, and caught sight of Jackson as he raced around the corner. The stunned archaeologist skidded to a halt and his mouth dropped open. Carolyn appeared next, followed by a security detail, who had probably been alerted by the noise of the clashing mock-weapons and the barking beagle.
"Vala! Mitchell! Are you both crazy?" Jackson yelled.
Before either of them could muster an answer, the elevator door at the end of the hall slid open. Teal'c and Bra'tac strode out into the chaos, and the Master shot a questioning glance at his former pupil. Spike ran over to them, pressing himself against Teal'c's leg, and the Jaffa quickly bent to pick up the puppy.
"I believe they are attempting to reenact a well known duel between legendary warriors Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi," he explained calmly to Bra'tac, hugging the worried dog against his chest.
"Ah," nodded Bra'tac. "It would appear that ValaMalDoran has taken on the role of Darth Vader."
"What?" Cam's head swiveled toward them. "Vader kills Obi-Wan on the Death Star!"
Vala took advantage of his momentary distraction to wrest the mop handle from his grip. It flew out of his hand, spinning away to clatter against the wall, and she held her broom against his neck with a bright grin. "See?"
"Listen, Vala, don't kill him," Carolyn spoke up. "We've still got a movie date tonight."