FIC: Not Complaining, Part 1 (October Prometheus Unbound Challenge)
Title: Not Complaining
Rating: K+
Word Count: 18,826
Summary: Daniel finds himself lost in another world that looks hauntingly like his own. Vala shows up to make life interesting.
A/N: So I wrote this back in July 2010, long before another great fic appeared on ffnet with a ever-so-slightly familiar premise. I noticed because I’ve been following said fic. I really feel strange about it because my idea came from my brain and that other author’s idea came from his/her brain. So, that being said, this is not related to or inspired by anything other than the show itself, Stargate SG-1. I guess it’s just a coincidence!
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Part 1
Daniel wasn’t sure how it happened. Only that it did. The fact that something like this occurred was unsurprising to the seasoned member of SG-1. He’d seen it all - twice over. So when he found himself inhabiting the body of a man who strangely resembled him but was not him, Daniel Jackson decided to just ride the wave and see where it would take him. Who knows, maybe another freak accident would help him out of this silly little mess he’d gotten into.
He couldn’t say that he was complaining.
000
It all started when he, Mitchell, Vala, and Teal’c visited an uninhabited planet on the outskirts of the galaxy. The rock had previously been explored by Sam via George Hammond scan, but she had no time to go down to the surface and investigate. She had been called away. Another team needed her help elsewhere in the universe. Or so she said. Thus, SG-1 in its current form of four members, two of which who were original, went to finish what Sam had started.
She requested that they check it out for a couple of reasons. One, she felt that the Ancient design of the ruins might interest Daniel and lead him to even more interesting finds.
Two, SG-1 was bored as hell and everyone knew it. They were running amok in the SGC and word had gotten around to the other two original members (Jack and Sam) that something needed to be done. Apparently, with the only galactic threat being boredom, each member had been desperate to occupy their time with something… anything.
Mitchell had taken to running - in the halls. Treadmills were not stimulating enough in his opinion, though a whole line of them stood waiting for his use. And he refused to go running topside, lest a car or truck run him over when he wasn’t looking. This also allowed him to be closer to the action, what little there was left to have. Since the Ori had been defeated and other teams were taking care of the remaining Goa’uld threat (which let’s face it, wasn’t much of a threat), action was rare and far and few between.
His route through the halls of the SGC changed daily, and no one on base had any warning when he would dash by. Everyone was on edge, afraid that his mad rush to nowhere would knock over sensitive equipment or a carefully organized jumble of important documents. On more than one occasion such things had been sacrificed for the sake of Mitchell attempting to run from his boredom.
Teal’c was much less annoying but that much more painful. The Jaffa High Council was currently in recess, meaning that the resident Jaffa had nothing important to attend to offworld. He had already visited his family and friends numerous times. Now his interest rested on the SGC, where a series of new recruits had taken posts. He made it his mission to train these soldiers into capable warriors worthy of taking on the challenges that this galaxy often presented. And it was a mission he enjoyed thoroughly.
The training sessions began innocently enough as seminars on the ways of the Jaffa people. He instructed the trainees on codes of honor, culture, and best of all - battle strategies. Most of his students were enthralled with this, Teal’c being their first alien and all. But once a class completed the seminars, Teal’c moved them on to physical training. And that’s where it got a little, oh, difficult. By General Landry’s order, all new recruits were required to complete Teal’c’s training, so no one had a way out of the constant beating they were in for.
The Jaffa’s aim was to have everyone on based trained to use a wooden staff in close combat. Every recruit left his course with bruises galore. Dr. Lam was a little more than peeved that Teal’c was beating up her otherwise healthy patients. He was soon ready to graduate the latest class of recruits and move on to training regular SG team members. Most (with the exception of Mitchell, who was eager to be Teal’c’s assistant) dreaded the training. They made silent pleas to whatever God would listen that the galaxy would erupt in turmoil soon and occupy Teal’c with something other than them.
And now to Daniel and Vala. One cannot describe their mayhem without referring to them as one entity. For it was their relationship that both disgusted others and provided a great deal of gossip material for the local grapevine. A typical day would go like this: One would walk the halls of the base casually, minding one’s own business, until one would have to stop. Seeing Daniel and Vala together was now referred to as “the Obstruction in the hall,” for they often invaded other people’s personal spaces when their bickering and snarking turned violent. At such point, most individuals would choose to find another route to their destination. Very few braved the Obstruction anymore. And many complained they were late to meetings because of it.
One time, the archaeologist and the pirate were slapping each other silly when a group of marines came across them. The soldiers were making haste to the gate room and the pair was in the way. Daniel and Vala were unaware that others needed to make use of the hallway, being so engrossed in each other. They made no moves to step aside for the benefit of the marines. The team could have easily chosen another route, but the General had requested their presence immediately and these marines tended to be good with time. Their reputation would not be put at risk because a pair of bumbling idiots who couldn’t satisfy their sexual tension stood in the way.
The two chased after each other, running in circles like a dog chasing its tail. When the lead marine attempted to pass he was thrown into the wall while trying to avoid Vala. The second and third marines were accidentally groped by Daniel as he reached out to grab the same woman. This made them none too happy. The fourth and last marine was quite aware of the Obstruction by this point and decided to take matters into his own hands. He grabbed Vala in a bear-hug from behind and physically moved her out of the way. Daniel protested, and once Vala wiggled out of the marine’s grasp, she promptly slapped him. Hard. The marines made it to the gate room on time, but not before feeling thoroughly assaulted by a civilian and his so-called alien girlfriend. General Landry gave them a look, but said nothing.
Getting anywhere on base was now considered more dangerous than visiting a new alien planet, what with Daniel and Vala always in the way and Mitchell threatening to run you over and Teal’c pining to get you pinned with a wooden stick. Calls for help flooded the inbox of Jack O’Neill, miles away in Washington.
Jack, being Jack, chose to delegate. He was “the man” after all. In short, he told Carter to take care of it or else he was dumping SG-1 on her ship. At which case they would most definitely become her problem. She simply sighed and took it in stride because she already had this little plan cooked up. General Landry had made a personal plea to Sam to give them something to do before he had SG-1 lined up and executed for grand theft sanity. It wasn’t that she couldn’t survey the planet herself, but rather, she chose to offer her assistance to one of the SG teams somewhere far, far away. As the Colonel of a starship in Earth’s fleet, she made it her business to know where every SG team was and what they were doing. She chose one that had the highest chance of running into trouble and rushed off with her hyperdrive on overdrive.
All of these events led to the presence of SG-1 on the little planet with Ancient ruins. The team was excited to be offworld again, even if it was only to do a safe, boring survey. Mitchell assigned Vala to be on watch with Teal’c, feeling the need to separate her from her arch-nemesis before they shot each other with zats and P-90s. The team leader took it upon himself to be Daniel’s assistant for this mission, and that’s ultimately what got Daniel into his current predicament. You see, Mitchell was never quite good at keeping his curiosity under control. One would not think so initially with Vala on the same team, she being the lover of pressing random buttons and moving artifacts from their thousand-year resting places. But he had his own version of dangerous, cat-killing curiosity. Mitchell’s own failings were just overshadowed by Vala’s. Now that she wasn’t here, it was his chance to shine.
Daniel was busy studying a block of text on the wall. He didn’t bother to take photos anymore as he could easily translate the Ancient words in his head, then write down their meaning. Currently, he had not translated enough of the writing to determine its purpose. Out of context, it wasn’t saying much yet. So his notebook remained blank and his eyes stayed glued to the wall.
Mitchell busied himself with checking the dusty underground room for booby traps or other evidence of tampering. That task was completed easily since the room was practically devoid of anything. All it contained besides the writing on the wall was a console in the center of its space. The cylindrical thing rose from the ground all the way to the ceiling, and then some. Its spire stuck high out of the ruins, beckoning people like Daniel to come near. With it being the only object of interest in the room, Mitchell spent the most attention on the console. Warning bells failed to sound in his mind as his fingers reached out to brush dust off of the Ancient thing. He was unaware that the other side of it had begun to glow. He leaned in closer to study it and ascertain its purpose, in the hopes that perhaps he could figure it out before Daniel could.
He tapped a button. Nothing really happened. He tried another. Nothing. Convinced that it was harmless, Mitchell tapped a series of buttons, at which point, there was a flash of colorful light. “Cool,” he commented with the accent of a California surfer dude. “Hey Jackson, check this out… Jackson?” Mitchell looked all around the room, but he was gone. His face went blank. “Oops.”
000
Daniel found himself in the oddest of places. Prometheus. His BDUs were different now. He no longer had his jacket on, wearing just the black T-shirt he reserved for being on base, or in this case, on ship. His sleeve had a hole in it. Funny, he thought, that almost never happens. The ship was missing something. Yes, a crew. Alarm lights were flashing but no sounds were going off.
He casually perused the halls, searching for any sign of life, until he came across the bridge. While the room itself held no occupants, a monitor showed a familiar figure locked up in the brig. Vala was definitely fuming. Daniel smirked. He knew exactly where the others were. This was the day he met Vala. As far as how he got here or why he was reliving these exact moments, he had no clue. Something told him the tapping sound he heard prior to arriving here had something to do with it. When he got back he’d have a little chat with Mitchell about keeping one’s hands to oneself.
Daniel went through a variety of possible scenarios as he studied the displays on the bridge. Could this be another time? Unlikely. The only way he knew of to travel through time was to pass through a wormhole intersecting a solar flare. He decided to scroll through some of the screens to glean more information from the ship. Meanwhile, Vala made an attempt to break out of her brig cell, only to be met with a nasty shock from the wall pad.
One of the monitors showed the mission commander’s name - General Hammond. It also showed who was working the weapons console - Lt. Kilbourne. Okay, not correct. Walter was here the day Vala came along. In fact, his name was nowhere to be found on the ship’s manifest. So, not another time. Daniel wondered, What else could this be? He pinched his shoulder where the sleeve had a hole in it. “Ow,” he complained to himself. Something told him this wasn’t a hallucination. Daniel let out a breath as he looked around. If this were another time, he’d have liked to arrive a little sooner so he could recommend that they never make the detour and get hi-jacked by Vala. But as it was, he was stuck in whatever the hell place this was at the moment.
“Go with the flow,” he told himself quietly. Daniel knew the access code was changed but tried to gain control of the ship anyway. Nothing. The display confirmed what he already knew - Prometheus was traveling to a far-off planet and preparing to land.
The coms unit sounded. “Vala, this is Tenat. We have you on our scanners.” The voice of the strange alien sounded just as eerie as he remembered.
“Here we go,” Daniel grumbled. He pressed the response button. “Uhh, yeah, hi.”
“Where is Vala?” Tenat demanded.
Daniel sucked in a breath. “She’s here. She’s just… indisposed at the moment.”
“She did not mention she was working with someone,” the alien said suspiciously.
“No, I guess not.” Daniel thought quickly. He remembered that Tenat and Jup had a considerable caseload of naquedah with them. He also remembered that General Hammond and the Alkesh would be here soon, if this were indeed the same scenario he had experienced. If he could get his hands on the naquedah and save the ship, that would be very, very nice. “Look, I know I owe you an explanation. I’ll meet you outside as soon as we land.”
“We will meet you at the designated coordinates and inspect your ship.”
“Okie dokie. See you there,” Daniel quipped. He sighed outwardly as soon as the connection was cut. Would it be possible to send a communiqué to General Hammond on the little Alkesh? The monitor he tried to use for that purpose beeped angrily at him. Okay, maybe not. Daniel geared up in the old supersoldier suit Vala had brought with her. Didn’t hurt to be protected.
When he ventured to the surface after landing, he saw exactly what he was expecting. Two lizard-looking aliens approaching. They held a nice big box between them. “Hi, guys,” he said cheerfully.
“Where is Vala?”
“Inside. She sent me out instead. She’s a little afraid of getting a sunburn. Forgot her sunblock at home. You know her, silly Vala always forgetting things. For instance, she forgot to tell you I was with her.” Daniel raised his eyebrow and cocked his head.
Tenat and Jup looked at each other. “We will only do business with Vala,” Tenat said sternly.
“I thought you might say that.” In the span of a few seconds, Daniel zatted both aliens. They fell heavily to the ground, leaving the nice big box exposed. Daniel wasted no time attempting to drag it to the ship because he knew what was coming next. “Grrrrcrap this is heavy.”
The sound of gliders approaching made him pick up the pace. He was still a few feet away from the door, struggling with the box. They began to reign fire down on the ship. He counted himself lucky that he wasn’t hit. Hopefully they didn’t see what he was doing. He managed to drag the case onboard and run straight to Vala’s cell. Sparks flew around him, a tell-tale sign that the ship was taking damage.
She spun around from the security camera as soon as the door opened. “What’s happening?”
Daniel kept his zat within her line of sight. “Ship’s under attack by gliders. You need to give me the access code.”
“Let me out of here and I’ll help you!”
“Good, I was hoping you’d say that.” Daniel sheathed his zat and hauled Vala over his shoulder.
She screamed in protest. “You don’t have to do this, you know!”
“Yes I do. You’ll just waste valuable time running your mouth and we need to get to the bridge.”
Traveling upside-down, Vala opened and closed her mouth. “What about my buyers?”
“I zatted them.”
“And the naquedah?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“What? Daniel!”
“Shut up, Vala, and unlock the ship,” he said as he dropped her down. They had arrived at the bridge to find more sparks flying as conduits surged with excess power. Each went to their own consoles and sat down.
Daniel stayed calm, not worried in the least.
“Alright,” she said, “Raise shields.”
“I take it we can’t jump into hyperspace.”
“No, we’ve taken too much hull damage.”
Before Vala could announce, “Incoming Alkesh,” Daniel armed the weapons by reaching up to hit a few switches. The firing system began targeting the large ships on their way to greet them. The Prometheus began its slow ascent out of the atmosphere.
She soon declared, “Shields are failing.” Daniel continued firing manually from one of the rail guns. “And shields are down!” The ship protested as it lurched forward against the battery of assaults. “We are almost out of weapons!” Vala shouted.
“Wait for it.”
“Wait for what!”
“Wait for it.” Soon one Alkesh was firing on another. A few gliders were destroyed in the blasts.
“What just happened?”
“Help just arrived, that’s what happened.” Within moments, the gliders chose to fall back.
“Dr. Jackson. This is General Hammond, do you copy?”
Then Daniel remembered. In his world, the General had already been dead for a year. He eased himself into the command chair next to Vala. “General Hammond, it’s good to hear your voice, Sir,” Daniel said with a sad smile. Vala looked on sadly, but for wholly different reasons.
“Likewise. Are you alright, son?”
“Yes, yes, we’re fine.”
“Are we clear to ring aboard?”
“Standby.” Daniel turned to Vala. “Unlock the system.” She hesitated. “Those gliders likely retreated to a nearby mothership. We have to get out of here now. Unlock the system.”
She stared at him silently for a moment, then nodded. She tapped on the console and looked back at him in confirmation.
“You’re all clear, sir.” Daniel leaned back in the chair.
“What are you going to do with me?” Vala said quietly.
Honestly, Daniel didn’t know. The last time this happened, Vala had escaped custody before they could get home. He had never considered what the SGC would have done with her if she had made it home with them. He studied her worried face. “I’m not sure.”
“Look, Daniel, whatever happens, I just want you to know…” Curiosity prevented him from zatting her at that very moment. He had never learned what she was about to say the first time this happened. “We could have made a great team.”
Great team. Huh. Well, she wasn’t wrong. She did bring something to SG-1 that was valuable. Did he really want to see her go this time? Chances would be he’d see her again, after she escaped of course, but that would bring about a whole host of other problems. Namely, the Ori. Daniel weighed his options in that split-second.
“I think it would be best if you let me do all the talking when they get here.”
She nodded, not knowing how else to respond.
“Go with the flow.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, uhh, it means, just play along with me. And don’t look too surprised.” Vala cocked her head, but didn’t say anything.
000
The Original Daniel’s Universe
Vala and Teal’c rushed into the cavernous room at Mitchell’s call. “What? What’s wrong!?” Vala shouted. Teal’c scanned the room, finding nothing of consequence.
Mitchell stood there next to the console with a cheesy grin. “You’re not gonna believe this.”
“Believe what,” Teal’c intoned.
“Jackson disappeared.”
Vala blew hair out of her face. “Pfft, what’s new?”
“No, I mean, out of thin air.”
Vala and Teal’c shared a look. “Colonel Mitchell, what have you done?”
“Me?” he asked indignantly. “Why do you automatically assume it’s my fault?”
“Because, there’s only one other person who could screw up that much, and I wasn’t even in the room,” Vala replied. She said this nonchalantly, as if this fact was no big deal.
Mitchell looked down, feeling chastised. “Well,” he said, shuffling his feet, “I didn’t know it would do that.” He gestured toward the device in the center of the room.
Vala sighed and took a closer look. She managed to open a control panel and a tray of crystals slid out. “Did Daniel mention anything about what this was before he magically disappeared?”
“Uhh, no.”
“Did Daniel even look at this thing?”
“Nope.”
Teal’c shook his head imperceptibly. “Perhaps we should contact the SGC and inform them of what has transpired.”
Mitchell bit his lip. “Go ahead, T. Just don’t tell ‘em it was my fault.” He grinned sheepishly. If the Jaffa was in the habit of rolling his eyes, he would have at that moment. He simply nodded his head in annoyance and left the room.
“If you had been the one to take the perimeter, this might have never happened,” Vala sing-songed.
“Oh no, princess. You’re not putting all the blame on me. You and the egghead have been butting heads for months. I can’t have you screaming at each other all day long when I have to be anywhere near you. For all we know, you’d bring the whole place down on top of you and then I’d have double the paperwork to do.”
Vala scoffed. “If you had kept me with Daniel, he would still be here, arguing with me, safe and sound!”
“Safe, maybe. Sound! No way, Jose.”
Vala just growled and returned her attention to the device.
000
The Alternate Daniel’s Universe
Daniel was in the ship’s briefing room with General Hammond and Vala, who was dutifully silent. “I recommend SG-3 go on ahead of us in the Alkesh.”
“Any particular reason why?”
“Well, sir, we mentioned that it is a valuable piece of technology. Better to precede our homecoming with something of value. Seeing as how…” Daniel paused and glanced at Vala, “we got ship-jacked and now can’t complete our mission to Atlantis.”
Hammond considered this for a moment. “Perhaps you’re right. I’ll give the order right away.” He made a call to the bridge.
Whew. Now Vala won’t have any other way to get off the ship. Or have need to plow through anyone trying. Hopefully not letting her go will prevent her from finding that stupid tablet and leading us on a wild goose chase in Glastonbury. Or getting stuck in those damned bracelets again.
“Now explain what happened here, son.” He looked from Daniel to Vala.
“Ahh, so, as you know, a Goa’uld Super Soldier ringed aboard.” Hammond nodded. “Well, this character happened to be another alien in disguise.” It wasn’t too far off from the truth.
“This woman we found on board with you?”
Daniel blinked. Rat out Vala? Hmm, very tempting. “No. She came along later. So the alien was really some sort of thief looking for a nice, big ship to steal. That’s why the anti-supersoldier weapon didn’t work on him.” Crap, the security tapes. He had just lied to General Hammond’s face and there was evidence to the contrary sitting in the databanks. Daniel glanced at Vala, half-expecting her to read his mind. But no, her face remained blank. This wasn’t his Vala, the one who usually knew what he was thinking and would already be halfway there before he suggested it out loud. “He took control of the ship. I escaped while he was distracted. When the ship landed, he got off and I followed. A bit of a firefight ensued when he met up with one of his buddies.”
Daniel was surprised Vala hadn’t interrupted yet. Could it be that this version of the woman was a little more, dare he think it, quiet?
“I managed to zat both of them. Meanwhile, Vala, here, their prisoner, was crouched down behind the crate to get out of the line of fire. The one with all the naquedah in it,” he said with a triumphant smile.
Hammond studied Vala. “When did you have time to give her one of our uniforms?”
Daniel froze.
“I was naked,” Vala deadpanned.
Daniel looked at her in surprise.
“It became a necessity for him to find the time. Wouldn’t want the entire crew to see me raw,” she said with a sultry tone directed toward Daniel, “and vulnerable.”
Hammond swallowed, then coughed uncomfortably. “I see.” He turned to address her directly. “Why would these aliens take you prisoner?”
Daniel trusted her to come up with something convincing.
“Honestly, you want the real truth?” Daniel raised an eyebrow while Hammond nodded patiently. Vala was quick to make up a lie. “If you must know, they wanted me to be their sex slave.”
“Oh god,” Daniel muttered under his breath.
Hammond sat back. “Ahh. I see. We’d be happy to return you to your people.”
Daniel’s eyes went wide as Vala made a small smile. “Uhh, no. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” both said simultaneously.
“Didn’t you mention that your own people sold you out?” Daniel said, waggling his eyebrows quickly before Hammond would notice.
Vala opened her mouth. Then looked down in shame. “It’s true.” She looked back up at Hammond with the biggest puppy eyes she could muster. “I try to forget that my own stepmother did this to me,” she said sadly. “All I can think about is going home to my father.”
Daniel fought the urge to gag. She wasn’t getting out of his sight that easily. “General, maybe we should let her stay with us for a while.”
Hammond, being the gentleman he was, agreed. “You can stay with us for the duration of our journey back. We also have a stargate should you feel the need to…”
Daniel coughed to interrupt. “Maybe, one thing at a time,” he said softly to the General. “She has been through a lot.”
Hammond smiled apologetically then stood up. In honor of his fallen commander back home, Daniel stood as well. “We’ll have you assigned to some quarters. Dr. Jackson if you would please be her escort and make sure she’s comfortable.”
He nodded. “Yes, sir.” The General left them alone in the room. Daniel let out a breath. “We have to erase the security footage.” He turned back to Vala to find her grinning at him. “What?”
“Why did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Lie to them on my behalf?”
“I, uhh…”
Vala stood up and inched very close to him. Her face was mere centimeters from his. “You like me,” she said in a sexy voice.
Daniel stood his ground. Only sometimes. “You were once a host. I’m pretty sure most of what you’ve told me is lies, but you can’t lie about being a host.” Vala looked down, disarmed. “I can imagine you really have been through a lot.” It had been ages since Daniel considered that about her. And now that he was actually using it against her, to keep her from coming on to him, he felt a little guilty for being so mean to his own Vala.
She didn’t reply and turned around.
“I’ve known a couple people who have gone through what you’ve gone through. I know it’s… difficult.”
Vala turned right back around, suddenly angry. “And out of the goodness of your heart you decide to take pity on me?”
Daniel was taken aback. “Uhh, no, no, it’s not like that.”
“Or maybe you want to use this opportunity for leverage. Keep your mouth shut as long as I do what you want. What exactly do you want from me, Daniel Jackson?” She was quite heated now.
Damn she’s hot. He shook his head. “Nothing, nothing! Look,” he raised his palms in a pleading motion, “I just want…” Think, Daniel, think. “Information.”
She lowered her hands, which had been ready to punch him. “What kind of information?” she said suspiciously.
I can’t believe I’m going to do this. Forgive me now. “About my… my… wife.”
“And just what would you expect me to know about your wife?”
“She was host to Amonet.”
Vala paused. “Are you lying to me?”
Daniel winced. “No, never about that.” It was the god-honest truth.
A strained look crossed her face and she sat down. “Amonet is dead, from what I’ve heard,” she said softly. All pretenses were gone. All attempts to negotiate a way out of this were gone. Vala felt instantly sorry for this ridiculously honest man, almost as sorry as she felt for herself.
“I know. It was my… friend… that killed her.”
“And your wife?”
“Dead along with the symbiote. One staff blast.”
Vala kept her eyes on his face, searching for deception. She only recognized pain. “I’m sorry.”
He sighed. “It was a long time ago.”
Vala shifted in her chair. “What exactly do you want to know?”
He didn’t immediately answer. He never had the guts to ask Vala about this before and wasn’t sure how to ask now. “Maybe, we should go somewhere more private.”
“And the security tapes?”
“Yeah, we need to take care of those, too.”
“I take it you know more about this ship than you let on.”
Daniel smiled. “Yup.”
“The code?”
“Oh no. That I really didn’t know.” Damned if he could remember a code from years ago.
Vala harumphed and stood up. “Shall we?”
000
The Original Daniel’s Universe
Her plan had backfired. Sam rubbed a hand down her face. Daniel was now missing. And it was her fault. Crap. Jack wasn’t going to like this. She considered giving him a direct call and fessing up now, or waiting to hear the backlash later. She decided later would be better. Maybe by then she could figure out what had happened.
Teal’c had just relayed a message to her through the stargate and the SGC, explaining the situation. He was cryptic, but it sounded like Mitchell had pressed the wrong buttons. She wasn’t expecting him to do what he did, but it might have happened regardless. The fact of the matter was, she had sent them to that planet.
Sitting in her private room on the ship, she decided to turn the Hammond around. Better to complete that survey herself she supposed, lest some other poor soul disappear, too.
000
The Alternate Daniel’s Universe
He showed her to an empty room. There were plenty of them left, just in case the people of Atlantis needed an emergency ride home. Seeing as how the Prometheus was in no shape to provide one, Daniel had a myriad of choices. It was a simple set-up. Just opposite the door was a window. A bed stood against the side wall, its only companion a basic nightstand. There was a tall wardrobe closet across the room and a private bathroom next to that.
Daniel didn’t remember his personal quarters on the Prometheus having its own bathroom. Earth ships had public washrooms complete with showers and lockers on almost every level. This must be the VIP suite, he mused. How appropriate. He watched Vala as she studied the room. She ran her hand along the simple bedding - standard issue green. She opened the drawer of the nightstand and perused the empty wardrobe closet. She was exploring every inch of this room.
“Something the matter?” It didn’t occur to him that this was probably the most comfortable room she’d seen in years, despite rating meager by Earth standards.
She merely glanced at him and continued looking. Daniel pursed his lips. He figured she was checking the room for hidden traps or some other such nonsense. She always had to be on edge. If the Vala from his own world could drive him insane, certainly this one could. He tried to be as patient as possible until he finally said, “What are you looking for?”
She made eye contact with him. “Now that you’ve seen me naked, no doubt you will want more. I am irresistible, after all.” Daniel rolled his eyes, but did not interrupt. “I just think a girl deserves a teensy ounce of privacy every now and then.”
“You think there are cameras in here?” He shook his head. “We don’t watch everything on this ship.”
She snorted. “Obviously not if I could take it over in two minutes.”
“Ten minutes.” He wouldn’t give her the dignity of such a small number.
“Two.”
“Ten.”
She took this as a challenge. “Care to recover the security footage and the logs? Hmm?” She stepped closer into his personal space. Daniel did not back away. “You know I could do it,” she said in a low tone.
He glared at her. “So I’ve heard.”
Their staring match continued on for another minute. Eventually, Vala got bored. “So what,” she said, gesturing around the room, “do you expect me to do now that I am your captive?”
Daniel furrowed his brow. “You are not my captive.”
“Yes, I am.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Then why won’t you let me leave?”
Daniel opened his mouth and promptly closed it. He didn’t think it was a good idea to explain that he knew the future. He didn’t want to give her any ideas, either. There was always the chance that if she ever did escape, she wouldn’t find a tablet or think to bring the Kor Mac bracelets anywhere near him. “Uhhh…” was all he could utter.
“Hmpf!” Vala crossed her arms and turned to look out the window. The light of hyperspace zoomed past them.
“Look,” he said, finally coming up with something, “that deal of yours back there just got seriously screwed up. I wouldn’t doubt that there are some very bad people out looking for you right now.”
At this Vala turned around. She seemed to consider his thoughts. “So now you’re protecting me?”
His eyes widened for just a second. “Yeah. I guess I am.”
She brought her hands together and up toward her face. She tilted her head. “My hero!” she said with a fake, high-pitched tone. Daniel groaned. Strangling her would feel really good right now. She began to laugh. Daniel held his hands up and looked at the sky. And I’m keeping her, why? He got no reply.
When Vala’s laughter finally settled down, she said, “I suppose I could lay low for a while. Seeing as how you screwed up the deal, you can help me with that at least.”
He looked at her like she was crazy. “Excuse me? If you had never tried to steal this ship, you wouldn’t be having this problem.”
Vala considered arguing further, especially about the worth of the naquedah, but she thought against it. Better not to tell this simple man what a caseload would fetch on the open market. He might seem trustworthy, but one never knew just how much profit it would take to break that trust. “Oh, I don’t know.” She approached him again and ran a finger down his chest. Best to deter his attention. “This doesn’t look like much of a problem to me.” Vala waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Daniel caught her finger and pushed it away. “You are an enigma, Vala Mal Doran.” Now it was her turn to look at him funny. “One minute you play the victim, the next you’re a dominatrix.”
“When did I ever tell you my whole name?” she asked with suspicion.
“You didn’t have to. Your buyers did.” Quick thinking there, Daniel.
“Idiots.” She hopped onto the bed and donned a seductive pose. “Now where were we?”
“You’re going to stay here until I get back. I have things to take care of - ack!” he held up a finger, “that don’t involve you!” Vala was about to open her mouth and ask to go with him.
“You’re leaving me here?”
“Yes, I’m leaving you here.”
“Again, what am I supposed to do?”
“I can tell you are the type of woman who can’t sit still.” In fact, he knew it more than he ever wanted to know. “I’ll bring you something in a little while. Until then, enjoy the peace and quiet.” He walked out then, leaving her on the bed with her mouth hanging open. Daniel made it a point to lock the room from the outside with his keycard privileges. That would at least give him enough time to find a magazine or a DVD player or something until she broke out. Which he knew she would do eventually.
He wandered the ship asking random people if they had anything like the above. Eventually someone donated a used women’s magazine. Daniel was back at Vala’s door within a half hour. When he swiped the card and the door opened, he was kind of surprised. The woman was actually asleep. She had curled up on top of the covers, back facing the door. She must be exhausted, he thought.
Daniel rounded the bed to see if she was really sleeping or not. It seemed as though she was. Her mouth was set in a hard line, body tense. It didn’t look as though she was truly relaxed. He wondered if his own Vala looked like that in her sleep. Daniel resisted the urge to move a lock of hair out of her face. Instead, he set the magazine on the nightstand and turned off the light. When he left, he locked the door again.
Maybe it’s time to learn more about this world. He needed to find a data console. He’d have to find out if one of the labs was free. Learning the history of the galaxy in a few hours would require privacy so no one could ask questions. He was pretty sure there would be differences. He had already spotted one in Walter not being here.
The reality of his situation finally hit him. This must be one of those alternate universes Sam used to mention. That had to be it.
000
The Original Daniel’s Universe
Sam studied her tablet’s screen and frowned. She was kneeling down in front of the open control panel of the device that made Daniel disappear, wires trailing from it to her flat screen. As if the computer could sense her disapproval, it quickly displayed something else. She tapped at it again to bring back the other read-out. Power output was significant. Now if she could only figure out what the hell was being powered.
“Colonel, I’m getting a strange reading from over here,” said one of her subordinates. She looked up. The Major was staring at a section of wall, a hand-held device pointed at it.
“Oh?” She tapped again on her tablet.
“I don’t know what to make of it.”
But Sam was too distracted with her own readings to pay any attention to his. “Log it and I’ll take a look at it later.”
Another subordinate walked in. This time a woman. “Colonel, ground teams haven’t found anything yet. But we are getting a strange report from the Hammond’s scanners.”
Sam pressed furiously on her tablet. She gritted her teeth at it, only half-paying attention to the Lt.’s report.
“The number of life signs it’s reading keeps fluctuating. Every once in a while an extra blip shows up.”
“Could be interference from this power generator. It’s just as powerful as a ZPM if not more,” Sam replied absently.
“Yes, ma’am.” The woman left.
“Hey, Sam.”
“What!” she snapped.
Mitchell’s eyes went wide. “I was just,” he said, a little fearfully, “checking to see if you needed anything.”
She sighed. “Oh. Sorry, no.” Mitchell slowly backed out, guilt building up in his demeanor. She sensed this without even looking and felt a little guilty herself. “Cam!” He peeked his head back in. “Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
He let out a slow breath and studied her. She was extremely tense. “I guess I should say the same.” They locked eyes for a moment then nodded to each other, understanding met.
*******************
Part 2 here...