Honest Thieves Part 1/4
Title: Honest Thieves
Rating: PG-13, Heavy on the innuendo
Wordcount: ~16 000, completed.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, MGM owns everything, including SG-1 and all characters. Also, Lois McMaster Bujold and BAEN Books own the real Miles Naismith. I only seek to offer an homage by borrowing a few names.
Summary: Daniel is sent on a solo mission as a spy, and runs into a familiar adversary. Will he get what he came for, or lose everything in the process? Daniel/Vala, set in Season Eight between Prometheus Unbound and Reckoning.
Author's Notes: I watched seasons 9/10 the same time I started watching the rest of the season from the beginning. Prometheus Unbound was one of the last episodes I saw. While I love that episode, I found myself wanting another encounter between Daniel and Vala before Season Nine to answer a few questions I had. This fic was intended to fit within the canon of the series, although you may need D/V-tinted glasses. Divided into four parts only for the sake of LJ's maximum post size.
Beta thanks and acknowledgments go out to annerose, serenitysoars, and I think qtheallpowerful was in there at one point as well. Of course, thanks to spiletta42 for hooking me up with betas, acting as a sounding board while I tried to figure out this whole D/V ship, and the Stargate fandom in general, and for helping me figure out a few details on the setting. Also a big thanks to anyone else who put up with/encouraged me as I talked of nothing but this fic for the past month.
Honest Thieves
By Risti
The irony of the situation was not lost on Daniel. In fact, it had him feeling more than a little punch drunk. Daniel had lost track of how many times he’d faced certain death before. He had to think for a few moments before he could count how many times death had ‘won’. He had a feeling ascension was out this time around as well. Did I put on a good show for you? He directed his thoughts randomly towards Oma and the other ascended beings he imagined were happily non-interfering in his life.
He was in orbit, around a planet he didn’t know the name or location of. There was no hope of the rest of SG-1 swooping in to save his butt again. I’m on my own in this one. Well, not quite. No, his only possible salvation was standing across the room, nervously biting a fingernail, cocking a zat gun in his general direction with the other hand. The urge to touch her smooth, alabaster skin had never before been so dominant in Daniel’s mind. He swallowed once more, feeling the knife’s blade press into the the skin of his neck. It was now or never. He’d live this one down, eventually, if he could only get out of here alive.
“Vala,” he cried out desperately, “Vala, if I’m going to die for it, can I at least get another kiss?”
Twenty-Four hours earlier…
“Jack?”
“Yes, Daniel?”
“Is this a joke?”
“Do I look like I’m joking?”
“Do you ever not look like you’re joking?”
“Do you ever consider following my orders?”
“You’re one to talk.”
“Not as much as you. We all know you like to talk. And talk. You’re pretty good at it, really…”
“However we both have shown a weakness in knowing when to shut up, as you’re demonstrating right now, so how about you shut up and tell me what’s seriously going on here.”
Jack was silent for a moment. That moment began to stretch out. The faint sound of a clock ticking was all that could be heard in the SGC briefing room.
“Jack!”
“I am being serious, Daniel. We need you on this one. Besides, I thought you’d be all over it. New culture to play in! Old stuff to look at! A possible ZPM to make gate travel to Atlantis possible!”
“Like you’d even let me go once we could.”
“I did! It’s not my fault you… got distracted.”
“General Hammond ordered you to let me go, and you’ve been grinning ever since I came back.. Now come on Jack, you want me to go - without the team - as a spy? Not a recon mission, but an actual, active spy? With the cover of what?” Daniel flicked the briefing in his hand, building up momentum in his speech, “An arms dealer slash drug runner slash bounty hunter? Why not just say I deal in the sex trade while you’re at it? All this set up, just so I can look at something a real con artist is trying to pawn off on the unsuspecting? I can’t believe this is an official SGC mission. It’s like a B-movie.”
“As opposed to the missions SG-1 regularly goes on, which are summer blockbuster hits? Come on, Daniel. You’re tagging along with SG-7, who have been embedded on this planet for several months now, and been strictly covert ops for the past six years. You’re going to look at the merchandise, and tell me whether its worth the weapons grade naquedah they want. Then you are going to walk back through the Stargate and write up a nice report. If we’re lucky, it’ll even be read by the president, who will no doubt let the person who figured out a way back to Atlantis visit.”
“I seem to remember helping to figure out how to get to Atlantis in the first place, and yet?” Daniel gestured around the room, frustrated, not seeing a need to finish his sentence.
In the back of his mind, Daniel knew he was being unreasonably stubborn. This was no crazier than dozens of things he’d done for the SGC over the years. It was just that this latest scheme brought back memories of that aborted trip on the Prometheus, and the last time he had gotten involved in the seedier side of the galaxy. The seedier side, as opposed to the evil side? Rolling his eyes, Daniel admitted to himself what he’d known all along: He’d go on the mission, but that didn’t mean he was going to make things easy on Jack.
“Not that I don’t miss our bonding times Jack, but tell me again why the rest of the team isn’t here for this briefing?”
Jack smirked, and Daniel realized he’d been found out in all of two seconds. This is why you shouldn’t be making me a spy, Jack.
“Sorry Daniel, but you’re flying solo - hah, Solo on this one.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow. Only Jack would decide that yes, Hans Olo was a perfectly legitimate cover identity.
“Teal’c’s in major negotiations with some of the rebel Jaffa leaders - something big is in the works - and Carter thinks she’s on to something that might lead to us turning the replicators into recycling once and for all. You know I hate to interrupt Carter when she’s on to something. Don’t worry, if this lead turns out to be real - and right now I have my doubts - SG-1 will definitely be involved”
“And why can’t SG-7 video the artifact in question, and I’ll review it like I always have in situations like this?”
“This is different, Daniel. This isn’t a rock sitting in the middle of some field. P4X-468 is hub for space pirates, and the traders are a paranoid bunch around all those double-crossers. The whole place is rigged with jammers and scanners and who knows what else. Besides, you always like to touch your artifacts, stroke them to see if it brings up a response. When you consider you’re usually doing this late on a Friday night, it’s enough to make some people wonder-”
“Jack!”
“Daniel.”
“Is there anything else I need to know?”
Jack grinned. “Well, there is the matter of your disguise…”
Warily, Daniel glanced at Captain Miles Naismith and then back at the reflection in the mirror. This just isn’t right. He watched his own reaction turn from discomfort to disgust as he realized he really wasn’t going to be able to wear anything under the pants, even if he had convinced them to at least let him try. They were black leather, and the cliché leaving nothing to the imagination barely began to describe the way they hugged and clung and generally, well, sometimes even bad clichés were correct.
Captain Naismith studied him in a most unsettling way, and then pulled a deep blue linen shirt that laced up at the collar and billowed out in the sleeves.
“Put that on with the vest that goes with the pants, and you’ll be set to go.”
Standing there in his bdu’s, average height, average build, average everything, Captain Naismith of SG-7 could have faded into the everyday background of the SGC. Daniel found it disconcerting that he had not just this outfit, but a closet full of similar clothing, all issued to him by his military superiors. Then again, Daniel had an office filled with ancient alien artifacts the same military superiors relied on him to figure out. Moments like these made Daniel step back and shake his head at the entire Stargate program..
Slipping into the shirt and vest, Daniel sighed and tried to tell himself that it was just another form of camouflage. Then he caught sight of his reflection again, and groaned. I look like a pirate. A gay pirate.
He heard a wolf whistle, and when he turned around he saw Jack and Sam standing at the doorway. There was no question who the whistle came from.
“Carter, have I ever told you how shy Daniel was when we first met?”
Sam gave him a wicked smile, and held up a camera. “Say cheese!”
“What! No!” Daniel held up a hand in a vain attempt to stop the picture from being taken.
“That’ll be perfect for the scrapbook,” Sam said, leaning against the door frame.
“It is so nice to see that you’ve come out of your shell a little,” Jack continued his previous point, clearly working up to something. “Are you sure you don’t want to come out anymore?”
If Daniel were still ascended, the look he gave Jack at that moment would have hurt. Badly.
“It, umm, does perhaps seem a bit over the top?” Sam said hopefully, and Daniel’s expression softened to one of gratitude.
“Thank you. Captain Naismith, I-”
“No,” Naismith cut him off with a grin. Daniel suddenly suspected that the ability to blend into a crowd was something the officer had cultivated, rather than his natural state. “For where we’re going, and who you’re meeting, this is perfect.”
Daniel’s eyes were twitching, and not from the contacts he was wearing. The event horizon had dumped them not only right in the middle of the city of Lansing, but the marketplace appeared to have grown organically from this natural point of trade. The streets were littered with ships and gliders, not all of Goa’uld design, and in their shadows stood even more tents and tables. What the market had overgrown made Daniel’s little archaeologist heart soar. It was a city - an entire civilization. There were just slightly crumbling domes and arches that suggested a pre-Islamic Arab society. The legend of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves came to mind. Appropriate, considering this place is probably crawling with thieves.
He expected to see a flying carpet, or maybe more realistically a snake charmer at any moment. Instead what he saw was a juxtaposition of primitive stone buildings and space ships beyond earth’s level of technology outside of the SGC. His feelings towards this mission soared. What were the chances he could get SG-7 to let him hang around, explore the city a little, once he debunked this artifact… He began drifting away from the Stargate, wanting to take a closer look at a mosaic half hidden behind a glider…
“Name and purpose!”
Daniel jumped back as he realized a Jaffa was blocking their way beyond the gate, holding a zat in one hand, and a voice data recorder in the other.
“Victor Rotha, procurement agent for the Dendarri Free Merchants Company, here with Hans Olo. We’re here to trade.” Captain Naismith nudged Daniel. Daniel was bewildered, at the exasperated look he was being given.
“Err, right, yes, we’re here to trade?” Daniel repeated, unsure of why he was doing so. He lifted his eyebrows when this was enough for the Jaffa to nod and step aside.
As they moved further away from the gate, Daniel asked Naismith what the welcoming committee was all about.
“Oh, they know half the people there are lying through their teeth. The voice recorder is what tracks you - you give them a word when you’re leaving as well, and that way they keep a general tab on who’s around, and who’s been around too long.”
The further into the market they got, the more Daniel was intrigued by the way every available surface seemed to have been turned into a landing pad. The social structure of this planet was unlike any Daniel had encountered on any planet he’d been to through the gate, and that was saying a lot. “Can’t people just leave by ship?” Daniel gestured around to the various ships they were passing.
“They’ve got similar security set up for incoming and outgoing ships.”
“And people agree to this?”
“Well, everyone’s aware that if you know the right people to bribe, the information will flow, but believe it or not, its one of the things that makes this place considered more legit than the real underground market of the galaxy.”
“Ahh,” Daniel nodded, smiling a greeting at a man who was watching them pass by. “So only honest thieves here?”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far…”
The man Daniel had smiled to narrowed his eyes, and moved a hand threateningly towards the weapon at his side. Daniel gulped, and quickly looked away.
SG-7 was set up in a tent tucked away off the main flow of the market, and it didn’t take them long to check in. From there, it was just a short walk to yet another tent, where the item they were looking for was supposedly available for trade. Before they could reach the tent, however, Daniel stopped short in his tracks as he was greeted by a rather arresting sight.
The woman who had their back to them was dressed from head to toe in a deep red leather, only red didn’t seem to be the right color to describe it. It was the color of merlot as its poured into a glass; the color of roses in full bloom; the color of blood pouring out of a broken heart. Leather boots flowed into leather pants leading to an ivory expanse covered only by two leather straps criss-crossed the small of her back. No, it couldn’t be…
He studied the pinned up black curls, and pretended he didn’t know who they belonged to as he imagined releasing the lengths and running his fingers it. Even from this distance, Daniel knew that all that leather would feel soft and smooth under his fingers, which clenched into fists at his side just thinking about it. Daniel’s vain attempt at denial was doomed to be short lived as the vixen spun around to face them. This just isn’t right…Desperate to avoid eye contact, Daniel’s eyes instead followed the plunging neckline slashed into all that leather. If he let his gaze drop even lower, there were a few smooth inches of midriff to distract him as well. He bit his lip before swallowing. Hard.
“Greetings!” Captain Naismith was an ignorant idiot. “Allow me to introduce ourselves. I’m Victor Rotha of the Dendarri, I believe you’ve met with some of the other members of my company, and this is-”
Daniel stepped on his foot before he could continue.
“Daniel Jackson,” Her voice seemed to caress each word, and Daniel’s eyes finally traveled back up her body, to a grin that could only be described as feral. A few short steps brought her from whatever task she’d been doing at the door to her tent to come to rest in a relaxed pose a few feet in front of them. “Of the Tau’ri, was it?” She continued, with a quick wink to let him know his wandering gaze had been found out.
“Vala Mal Doran,” Daniel swore. Names were the source of epithets in most languages. “Of Hell.”
“Miss me?”
Daniel rolled his eyes. “Hardly.”
“Your presence here would suggest otherwise.” She reached a hand out while saying this, but before she could reach his arm Daniel pushed it away.
“I’ve come on… business.”
“Oh yes.” This time her eyes were clearly roaming his body. He crossed his arms across his chest in an attempt at protection as she continued. “What is your business again? Bringing down the system lords single-handedly?”
Daniel raised an eyebrow. “I thought you’d never heard of me.”
“Glad I could,” she stepped closer, resting a hand on his chest, “stroke your ego”
Daniel took a step back, bumping into Naismith, who had a very blank look on his face. Vala’s eyes traveled between the two of them, and then once more up and down Daniel’s body. Daniel once again regretted his supposedly necessary choice of clothing.
“You know,” she sad with a pout, “I was so sure you liked girls…”
Daniel pointedly stepped away from Naismith before answering. “And I was so sure you couldn’t actually be as insane as you come across.”
Vala’s smile was blinding. “Daniel! How sweet. I would never have such kind things to say about someone who hijacked my ship.”
Daniel happened to glance at poor Captain Naismith when the light of recognition went off in his eyes. So he had been briefed on the woman who stole earth’s only ship. Apparently not well enough. When he got back, he was going to suggest to Jack that they circulate posters. Well, after he killed Jack. Naismith’s face changed once again.
“If you two knew each other, why’d you need me to set up a meeting?” He said, looking like someone who just had his time wasted. “You should know I don’t do refunds, Jackson.”
Daniel blinked. Right. The SGC had spent months setting up these cover identities with no ties back to earth. Well, he could always kill Vala before he killed Jack. If she was dead, she couldn’t tell anyone… Wait, where was Naismith going? He wouldn’t leave him alone with her, would he?
Apparently he would.
“So, lover,” Her eyebrows began to wiggle, “No that we’re finally alone, how can I be of,” a pause, as her eyes drifted downwards, “service to you.”
Daniel scrutinized the woman before him. Was it possible he could get her to let him look at the artifact, if she had it? This was, apparently, her line of business. He couldn’t help but be skeptical.
“I have to say,” Vala continued, not bothering to hide the way she was clearly checking him out “your butt looks good in leather. I think you could do with something a little less… flamboyant on top, however.” Her voice dropped to a mock whisper, “You might be giving people the wrong idea.”
Daniel clenched his jaw. That’s it, I’m getting out of these clothes as soon as possible. Daniel regretted that thought almost immediately, as his mind supplied him with images of what he could be doing with Vala without clothing at the moment.
“Don’t worry.” Vala seemed content to continue the conversation one-sided for as long as necessary. “I know you think I look good in leather too, even if you are too shy to say so. Or,” Vala continued, as if she could read Daniel’s thoughts at the moment, “Are you here because you couldn’t get the thought of what I look like without my clothing out of your head. Rather more forward of you than I would have guessed.”
Daniel fought back a groan. Not helping. Definitely not helping. “I don’t suppose you’d believe me if I said that meeting you on this planet at this time was entirely not my intention.”
Vala seemed to consider this for a moment. “No, you’re right, I don’t believe you.”
This time Daniel did groan.
“Well, I heard,” he began walking around, but that didn’t seem to keep her eyes from following him, “That you might have something of interest to me. Of course, I’m beginning to question my source. He didn’t tell me I’d be dealing with a fruitcake.”
That got her attention. “Oh Daniel, I do love it when you talk sweet to me. It makes me want to talk dirty back.” Or maybe not.
He stopped pacing. It was just making his blood pump faster anyhow. Letting his voice drop to a whisper, he took one more step to come up behind her and tilted his head towards hers to let his breath caress her ear. “Do you know what I really want from you, Vala?” He felt her arm snake back to grab his waist, but he gripped her wrist before it could. “I want to see the tiles you lifted from the Temple at Villahermosa. In fact, I need you to lay them out,” he caught her other arm when she attempted to twist around, stopping her from struggling “In the exact order you found them.”
Daniel now stood pressed up against Vala’s back, with an iron grip on both her wrists. Vala leaned back, as if settling into an embrace. His heart felt as if it was beating right out of his chest, and that wasn’t the only place Daniel could feel his blood pumping. He tried to take a step back, but she followed, locking both of them in a dance that required no music.
“And if I were to do this for you - and I’m not saying I could, mind you.” Her still-free fingers began to trace a delicate pattern on his thigh. Quickly his hands slipped down further to grab hers. Daniel moved them to her hips, trapping his own hands on top of hers as she continued. “If I were to do this… there would be, perhaps, a treasure map?”
Not so much a treasure map as a history of events surrounding the temple, written in ancient, with perhaps a vague reference to a ZPM being stored somewhere on that planet, or another one belonging to one of the many Goa’uld who ruled that planet over the years. But if a treasure map would motivate her to show him the tiles, let her believe it. What could it hurt?
“There might be,” he said slowly, as if reluctant to tell her this.
Her hair smelt like strawberries and peaches. He wondered how she managed that?
“This treasure… Would I get a cut of it?”
Ha! When she asked, he knew he had her. It was clear that she was, above all else, in it for the rewards.
“Mhm,” he hummed with a genuine grin.
“Fifty-fifty?,” She began to twist, and he let her this time, until they were face to face, his hands still splayed out on her hips, hers coming to rest on his chest.
“Possibly,” Daniel said. If they found the ZPM, she could keep everything else.
Vala leaned in closer then, bringing one hand up to pull his head down. She began laying kisses along his jaw line, before taking a quick nip at his earlobe. Daniel closed his eyes, and tried to remind himself who he was dealing with.
“Daniel?” she said, her voice low and rough. “Daniel, there’s something I should probably tell you, darling.”
Daniel stopped resisting the temptation to slide his hands inwards from her hips, and really take hold of the flesh on display in all that leather. This time, it was Vala who gasped.
“Daniel…” she trailed off, bringing her hands back down to his chest. “Daniel, I don’t share treasure.”
The pain registered in his groin before he realized it was from her knee impacting it. This was quickly followed by a shooting pain in his foot where the heel of her boot came down. Daniel was still doubled over in pain when she called out from a few steps away.
“Thanks for the tip, Daniel.” He looked up to see her with a smile of pity on her face. “All this time I thought the designs on those tiles were just there for decorative purposes.”
Daniel could only look on as Vala retreated to her ship. Running a hand through his hair, he began trying to pull it out as he let out a growl loud enough to make a few people in the area pause and look his direction. With that being the second time she pulled that trick, he should have seen it coming. What was it about Vala that blinded him to all common sense? That’s it, Daniel decided, I’m never letting my guard down around that woman again. The thing was, Daniel didn’t remember when he had…
“Well that didn’t go well.”
Daniel spun around to see the no-longer-gone Captain Naismith.
“Where did you go?” Daniel said, thankful to have someone to direct his frustration towards. It didn’t seem to phase Naismith, who continued smiling.
“I was around. I’ve updated the rest of the team on these developments. Is it safe to assume she’s not going to show you the tiles?”
“Not unless I break into her ship, zat her, and find the things myself,” Daniel said in disgust. Of course she had to confirm that she had the tiles, making it a lot harder to suggest forgetting about them. A crazy idea popped into his head. Crazier that what I’ve just been through? Grinning, he turned to see Naismith with a similar look of someone lost in thought. “So… Victor Rotha? What kind of resources do you and your team have at your disposal?”
This time, Daniel was going to be prepared. This time, Daniel was going to beat Vala at her own game. This might just prove to be fun.
( Part 2 ) ( Part 3 ) ( Part 4 )
Rating: PG-13, Heavy on the innuendo
Wordcount: ~16 000, completed.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, MGM owns everything, including SG-1 and all characters. Also, Lois McMaster Bujold and BAEN Books own the real Miles Naismith. I only seek to offer an homage by borrowing a few names.
Summary: Daniel is sent on a solo mission as a spy, and runs into a familiar adversary. Will he get what he came for, or lose everything in the process? Daniel/Vala, set in Season Eight between Prometheus Unbound and Reckoning.
Author's Notes: I watched seasons 9/10 the same time I started watching the rest of the season from the beginning. Prometheus Unbound was one of the last episodes I saw. While I love that episode, I found myself wanting another encounter between Daniel and Vala before Season Nine to answer a few questions I had. This fic was intended to fit within the canon of the series, although you may need D/V-tinted glasses. Divided into four parts only for the sake of LJ's maximum post size.
Beta thanks and acknowledgments go out to annerose, serenitysoars, and I think qtheallpowerful was in there at one point as well. Of course, thanks to spiletta42 for hooking me up with betas, acting as a sounding board while I tried to figure out this whole D/V ship, and the Stargate fandom in general, and for helping me figure out a few details on the setting. Also a big thanks to anyone else who put up with/encouraged me as I talked of nothing but this fic for the past month.
Honest Thieves
By Risti
The irony of the situation was not lost on Daniel. In fact, it had him feeling more than a little punch drunk. Daniel had lost track of how many times he’d faced certain death before. He had to think for a few moments before he could count how many times death had ‘won’. He had a feeling ascension was out this time around as well. Did I put on a good show for you? He directed his thoughts randomly towards Oma and the other ascended beings he imagined were happily non-interfering in his life.
He was in orbit, around a planet he didn’t know the name or location of. There was no hope of the rest of SG-1 swooping in to save his butt again. I’m on my own in this one. Well, not quite. No, his only possible salvation was standing across the room, nervously biting a fingernail, cocking a zat gun in his general direction with the other hand. The urge to touch her smooth, alabaster skin had never before been so dominant in Daniel’s mind. He swallowed once more, feeling the knife’s blade press into the the skin of his neck. It was now or never. He’d live this one down, eventually, if he could only get out of here alive.
“Vala,” he cried out desperately, “Vala, if I’m going to die for it, can I at least get another kiss?”
Twenty-Four hours earlier…
“Jack?”
“Yes, Daniel?”
“Is this a joke?”
“Do I look like I’m joking?”
“Do you ever not look like you’re joking?”
“Do you ever consider following my orders?”
“You’re one to talk.”
“Not as much as you. We all know you like to talk. And talk. You’re pretty good at it, really…”
“However we both have shown a weakness in knowing when to shut up, as you’re demonstrating right now, so how about you shut up and tell me what’s seriously going on here.”
Jack was silent for a moment. That moment began to stretch out. The faint sound of a clock ticking was all that could be heard in the SGC briefing room.
“Jack!”
“I am being serious, Daniel. We need you on this one. Besides, I thought you’d be all over it. New culture to play in! Old stuff to look at! A possible ZPM to make gate travel to Atlantis possible!”
“Like you’d even let me go once we could.”
“I did! It’s not my fault you… got distracted.”
“General Hammond ordered you to let me go, and you’ve been grinning ever since I came back.. Now come on Jack, you want me to go - without the team - as a spy? Not a recon mission, but an actual, active spy? With the cover of what?” Daniel flicked the briefing in his hand, building up momentum in his speech, “An arms dealer slash drug runner slash bounty hunter? Why not just say I deal in the sex trade while you’re at it? All this set up, just so I can look at something a real con artist is trying to pawn off on the unsuspecting? I can’t believe this is an official SGC mission. It’s like a B-movie.”
“As opposed to the missions SG-1 regularly goes on, which are summer blockbuster hits? Come on, Daniel. You’re tagging along with SG-7, who have been embedded on this planet for several months now, and been strictly covert ops for the past six years. You’re going to look at the merchandise, and tell me whether its worth the weapons grade naquedah they want. Then you are going to walk back through the Stargate and write up a nice report. If we’re lucky, it’ll even be read by the president, who will no doubt let the person who figured out a way back to Atlantis visit.”
“I seem to remember helping to figure out how to get to Atlantis in the first place, and yet?” Daniel gestured around the room, frustrated, not seeing a need to finish his sentence.
In the back of his mind, Daniel knew he was being unreasonably stubborn. This was no crazier than dozens of things he’d done for the SGC over the years. It was just that this latest scheme brought back memories of that aborted trip on the Prometheus, and the last time he had gotten involved in the seedier side of the galaxy. The seedier side, as opposed to the evil side? Rolling his eyes, Daniel admitted to himself what he’d known all along: He’d go on the mission, but that didn’t mean he was going to make things easy on Jack.
“Not that I don’t miss our bonding times Jack, but tell me again why the rest of the team isn’t here for this briefing?”
Jack smirked, and Daniel realized he’d been found out in all of two seconds. This is why you shouldn’t be making me a spy, Jack.
“Sorry Daniel, but you’re flying solo - hah, Solo on this one.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow. Only Jack would decide that yes, Hans Olo was a perfectly legitimate cover identity.
“Teal’c’s in major negotiations with some of the rebel Jaffa leaders - something big is in the works - and Carter thinks she’s on to something that might lead to us turning the replicators into recycling once and for all. You know I hate to interrupt Carter when she’s on to something. Don’t worry, if this lead turns out to be real - and right now I have my doubts - SG-1 will definitely be involved”
“And why can’t SG-7 video the artifact in question, and I’ll review it like I always have in situations like this?”
“This is different, Daniel. This isn’t a rock sitting in the middle of some field. P4X-468 is hub for space pirates, and the traders are a paranoid bunch around all those double-crossers. The whole place is rigged with jammers and scanners and who knows what else. Besides, you always like to touch your artifacts, stroke them to see if it brings up a response. When you consider you’re usually doing this late on a Friday night, it’s enough to make some people wonder-”
“Jack!”
“Daniel.”
“Is there anything else I need to know?”
Jack grinned. “Well, there is the matter of your disguise…”
Warily, Daniel glanced at Captain Miles Naismith and then back at the reflection in the mirror. This just isn’t right. He watched his own reaction turn from discomfort to disgust as he realized he really wasn’t going to be able to wear anything under the pants, even if he had convinced them to at least let him try. They were black leather, and the cliché leaving nothing to the imagination barely began to describe the way they hugged and clung and generally, well, sometimes even bad clichés were correct.
Captain Naismith studied him in a most unsettling way, and then pulled a deep blue linen shirt that laced up at the collar and billowed out in the sleeves.
“Put that on with the vest that goes with the pants, and you’ll be set to go.”
Standing there in his bdu’s, average height, average build, average everything, Captain Naismith of SG-7 could have faded into the everyday background of the SGC. Daniel found it disconcerting that he had not just this outfit, but a closet full of similar clothing, all issued to him by his military superiors. Then again, Daniel had an office filled with ancient alien artifacts the same military superiors relied on him to figure out. Moments like these made Daniel step back and shake his head at the entire Stargate program..
Slipping into the shirt and vest, Daniel sighed and tried to tell himself that it was just another form of camouflage. Then he caught sight of his reflection again, and groaned. I look like a pirate. A gay pirate.
He heard a wolf whistle, and when he turned around he saw Jack and Sam standing at the doorway. There was no question who the whistle came from.
“Carter, have I ever told you how shy Daniel was when we first met?”
Sam gave him a wicked smile, and held up a camera. “Say cheese!”
“What! No!” Daniel held up a hand in a vain attempt to stop the picture from being taken.
“That’ll be perfect for the scrapbook,” Sam said, leaning against the door frame.
“It is so nice to see that you’ve come out of your shell a little,” Jack continued his previous point, clearly working up to something. “Are you sure you don’t want to come out anymore?”
If Daniel were still ascended, the look he gave Jack at that moment would have hurt. Badly.
“It, umm, does perhaps seem a bit over the top?” Sam said hopefully, and Daniel’s expression softened to one of gratitude.
“Thank you. Captain Naismith, I-”
“No,” Naismith cut him off with a grin. Daniel suddenly suspected that the ability to blend into a crowd was something the officer had cultivated, rather than his natural state. “For where we’re going, and who you’re meeting, this is perfect.”
Daniel’s eyes were twitching, and not from the contacts he was wearing. The event horizon had dumped them not only right in the middle of the city of Lansing, but the marketplace appeared to have grown organically from this natural point of trade. The streets were littered with ships and gliders, not all of Goa’uld design, and in their shadows stood even more tents and tables. What the market had overgrown made Daniel’s little archaeologist heart soar. It was a city - an entire civilization. There were just slightly crumbling domes and arches that suggested a pre-Islamic Arab society. The legend of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves came to mind. Appropriate, considering this place is probably crawling with thieves.
He expected to see a flying carpet, or maybe more realistically a snake charmer at any moment. Instead what he saw was a juxtaposition of primitive stone buildings and space ships beyond earth’s level of technology outside of the SGC. His feelings towards this mission soared. What were the chances he could get SG-7 to let him hang around, explore the city a little, once he debunked this artifact… He began drifting away from the Stargate, wanting to take a closer look at a mosaic half hidden behind a glider…
“Name and purpose!”
Daniel jumped back as he realized a Jaffa was blocking their way beyond the gate, holding a zat in one hand, and a voice data recorder in the other.
“Victor Rotha, procurement agent for the Dendarri Free Merchants Company, here with Hans Olo. We’re here to trade.” Captain Naismith nudged Daniel. Daniel was bewildered, at the exasperated look he was being given.
“Err, right, yes, we’re here to trade?” Daniel repeated, unsure of why he was doing so. He lifted his eyebrows when this was enough for the Jaffa to nod and step aside.
As they moved further away from the gate, Daniel asked Naismith what the welcoming committee was all about.
“Oh, they know half the people there are lying through their teeth. The voice recorder is what tracks you - you give them a word when you’re leaving as well, and that way they keep a general tab on who’s around, and who’s been around too long.”
The further into the market they got, the more Daniel was intrigued by the way every available surface seemed to have been turned into a landing pad. The social structure of this planet was unlike any Daniel had encountered on any planet he’d been to through the gate, and that was saying a lot. “Can’t people just leave by ship?” Daniel gestured around to the various ships they were passing.
“They’ve got similar security set up for incoming and outgoing ships.”
“And people agree to this?”
“Well, everyone’s aware that if you know the right people to bribe, the information will flow, but believe it or not, its one of the things that makes this place considered more legit than the real underground market of the galaxy.”
“Ahh,” Daniel nodded, smiling a greeting at a man who was watching them pass by. “So only honest thieves here?”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far…”
The man Daniel had smiled to narrowed his eyes, and moved a hand threateningly towards the weapon at his side. Daniel gulped, and quickly looked away.
SG-7 was set up in a tent tucked away off the main flow of the market, and it didn’t take them long to check in. From there, it was just a short walk to yet another tent, where the item they were looking for was supposedly available for trade. Before they could reach the tent, however, Daniel stopped short in his tracks as he was greeted by a rather arresting sight.
The woman who had their back to them was dressed from head to toe in a deep red leather, only red didn’t seem to be the right color to describe it. It was the color of merlot as its poured into a glass; the color of roses in full bloom; the color of blood pouring out of a broken heart. Leather boots flowed into leather pants leading to an ivory expanse covered only by two leather straps criss-crossed the small of her back. No, it couldn’t be…
He studied the pinned up black curls, and pretended he didn’t know who they belonged to as he imagined releasing the lengths and running his fingers it. Even from this distance, Daniel knew that all that leather would feel soft and smooth under his fingers, which clenched into fists at his side just thinking about it. Daniel’s vain attempt at denial was doomed to be short lived as the vixen spun around to face them. This just isn’t right…Desperate to avoid eye contact, Daniel’s eyes instead followed the plunging neckline slashed into all that leather. If he let his gaze drop even lower, there were a few smooth inches of midriff to distract him as well. He bit his lip before swallowing. Hard.
“Greetings!” Captain Naismith was an ignorant idiot. “Allow me to introduce ourselves. I’m Victor Rotha of the Dendarri, I believe you’ve met with some of the other members of my company, and this is-”
Daniel stepped on his foot before he could continue.
“Daniel Jackson,” Her voice seemed to caress each word, and Daniel’s eyes finally traveled back up her body, to a grin that could only be described as feral. A few short steps brought her from whatever task she’d been doing at the door to her tent to come to rest in a relaxed pose a few feet in front of them. “Of the Tau’ri, was it?” She continued, with a quick wink to let him know his wandering gaze had been found out.
“Vala Mal Doran,” Daniel swore. Names were the source of epithets in most languages. “Of Hell.”
“Miss me?”
Daniel rolled his eyes. “Hardly.”
“Your presence here would suggest otherwise.” She reached a hand out while saying this, but before she could reach his arm Daniel pushed it away.
“I’ve come on… business.”
“Oh yes.” This time her eyes were clearly roaming his body. He crossed his arms across his chest in an attempt at protection as she continued. “What is your business again? Bringing down the system lords single-handedly?”
Daniel raised an eyebrow. “I thought you’d never heard of me.”
“Glad I could,” she stepped closer, resting a hand on his chest, “stroke your ego”
Daniel took a step back, bumping into Naismith, who had a very blank look on his face. Vala’s eyes traveled between the two of them, and then once more up and down Daniel’s body. Daniel once again regretted his supposedly necessary choice of clothing.
“You know,” she sad with a pout, “I was so sure you liked girls…”
Daniel pointedly stepped away from Naismith before answering. “And I was so sure you couldn’t actually be as insane as you come across.”
Vala’s smile was blinding. “Daniel! How sweet. I would never have such kind things to say about someone who hijacked my ship.”
Daniel happened to glance at poor Captain Naismith when the light of recognition went off in his eyes. So he had been briefed on the woman who stole earth’s only ship. Apparently not well enough. When he got back, he was going to suggest to Jack that they circulate posters. Well, after he killed Jack. Naismith’s face changed once again.
“If you two knew each other, why’d you need me to set up a meeting?” He said, looking like someone who just had his time wasted. “You should know I don’t do refunds, Jackson.”
Daniel blinked. Right. The SGC had spent months setting up these cover identities with no ties back to earth. Well, he could always kill Vala before he killed Jack. If she was dead, she couldn’t tell anyone… Wait, where was Naismith going? He wouldn’t leave him alone with her, would he?
Apparently he would.
“So, lover,” Her eyebrows began to wiggle, “No that we’re finally alone, how can I be of,” a pause, as her eyes drifted downwards, “service to you.”
Daniel scrutinized the woman before him. Was it possible he could get her to let him look at the artifact, if she had it? This was, apparently, her line of business. He couldn’t help but be skeptical.
“I have to say,” Vala continued, not bothering to hide the way she was clearly checking him out “your butt looks good in leather. I think you could do with something a little less… flamboyant on top, however.” Her voice dropped to a mock whisper, “You might be giving people the wrong idea.”
Daniel clenched his jaw. That’s it, I’m getting out of these clothes as soon as possible. Daniel regretted that thought almost immediately, as his mind supplied him with images of what he could be doing with Vala without clothing at the moment.
“Don’t worry.” Vala seemed content to continue the conversation one-sided for as long as necessary. “I know you think I look good in leather too, even if you are too shy to say so. Or,” Vala continued, as if she could read Daniel’s thoughts at the moment, “Are you here because you couldn’t get the thought of what I look like without my clothing out of your head. Rather more forward of you than I would have guessed.”
Daniel fought back a groan. Not helping. Definitely not helping. “I don’t suppose you’d believe me if I said that meeting you on this planet at this time was entirely not my intention.”
Vala seemed to consider this for a moment. “No, you’re right, I don’t believe you.”
This time Daniel did groan.
“Well, I heard,” he began walking around, but that didn’t seem to keep her eyes from following him, “That you might have something of interest to me. Of course, I’m beginning to question my source. He didn’t tell me I’d be dealing with a fruitcake.”
That got her attention. “Oh Daniel, I do love it when you talk sweet to me. It makes me want to talk dirty back.” Or maybe not.
He stopped pacing. It was just making his blood pump faster anyhow. Letting his voice drop to a whisper, he took one more step to come up behind her and tilted his head towards hers to let his breath caress her ear. “Do you know what I really want from you, Vala?” He felt her arm snake back to grab his waist, but he gripped her wrist before it could. “I want to see the tiles you lifted from the Temple at Villahermosa. In fact, I need you to lay them out,” he caught her other arm when she attempted to twist around, stopping her from struggling “In the exact order you found them.”
Daniel now stood pressed up against Vala’s back, with an iron grip on both her wrists. Vala leaned back, as if settling into an embrace. His heart felt as if it was beating right out of his chest, and that wasn’t the only place Daniel could feel his blood pumping. He tried to take a step back, but she followed, locking both of them in a dance that required no music.
“And if I were to do this for you - and I’m not saying I could, mind you.” Her still-free fingers began to trace a delicate pattern on his thigh. Quickly his hands slipped down further to grab hers. Daniel moved them to her hips, trapping his own hands on top of hers as she continued. “If I were to do this… there would be, perhaps, a treasure map?”
Not so much a treasure map as a history of events surrounding the temple, written in ancient, with perhaps a vague reference to a ZPM being stored somewhere on that planet, or another one belonging to one of the many Goa’uld who ruled that planet over the years. But if a treasure map would motivate her to show him the tiles, let her believe it. What could it hurt?
“There might be,” he said slowly, as if reluctant to tell her this.
Her hair smelt like strawberries and peaches. He wondered how she managed that?
“This treasure… Would I get a cut of it?”
Ha! When she asked, he knew he had her. It was clear that she was, above all else, in it for the rewards.
“Mhm,” he hummed with a genuine grin.
“Fifty-fifty?,” She began to twist, and he let her this time, until they were face to face, his hands still splayed out on her hips, hers coming to rest on his chest.
“Possibly,” Daniel said. If they found the ZPM, she could keep everything else.
Vala leaned in closer then, bringing one hand up to pull his head down. She began laying kisses along his jaw line, before taking a quick nip at his earlobe. Daniel closed his eyes, and tried to remind himself who he was dealing with.
“Daniel?” she said, her voice low and rough. “Daniel, there’s something I should probably tell you, darling.”
Daniel stopped resisting the temptation to slide his hands inwards from her hips, and really take hold of the flesh on display in all that leather. This time, it was Vala who gasped.
“Daniel…” she trailed off, bringing her hands back down to his chest. “Daniel, I don’t share treasure.”
The pain registered in his groin before he realized it was from her knee impacting it. This was quickly followed by a shooting pain in his foot where the heel of her boot came down. Daniel was still doubled over in pain when she called out from a few steps away.
“Thanks for the tip, Daniel.” He looked up to see her with a smile of pity on her face. “All this time I thought the designs on those tiles were just there for decorative purposes.”
Daniel could only look on as Vala retreated to her ship. Running a hand through his hair, he began trying to pull it out as he let out a growl loud enough to make a few people in the area pause and look his direction. With that being the second time she pulled that trick, he should have seen it coming. What was it about Vala that blinded him to all common sense? That’s it, Daniel decided, I’m never letting my guard down around that woman again. The thing was, Daniel didn’t remember when he had…
“Well that didn’t go well.”
Daniel spun around to see the no-longer-gone Captain Naismith.
“Where did you go?” Daniel said, thankful to have someone to direct his frustration towards. It didn’t seem to phase Naismith, who continued smiling.
“I was around. I’ve updated the rest of the team on these developments. Is it safe to assume she’s not going to show you the tiles?”
“Not unless I break into her ship, zat her, and find the things myself,” Daniel said in disgust. Of course she had to confirm that she had the tiles, making it a lot harder to suggest forgetting about them. A crazy idea popped into his head. Crazier that what I’ve just been through? Grinning, he turned to see Naismith with a similar look of someone lost in thought. “So… Victor Rotha? What kind of resources do you and your team have at your disposal?”
This time, Daniel was going to be prepared. This time, Daniel was going to beat Vala at her own game. This might just prove to be fun.
( Part 2 ) ( Part 3 ) ( Part 4 )