Honest Thieves Part 4/4
( Part 1) ( Part 2 ) ( Part 3 )
Daniel had a headache. A very annoying headache that was only being aggravated by the people shouting at each other around him. He kept his eyes closed, hoping to shut them out.
“Vala, don’t try to make up excuses. I saw you two together - twice!”
Daniel had never heard such a whiny goa’uld before.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I lured him back to the ship for two reasons, to get him to reveal where the treasure is located, and to find out what he did with D - with a very valuable target.”
“You were kissing him!”
“Obviously. Look, can’t you take that thing off?”
The fog in his mind was clearing, and realizing the trouble he’d gotten himself in Daniel let out a groan. He immediately wished he hadn’t, as it brought Vala and the goa’uld over. Opening his eyes, Daniel studied the goa’uld curiously as his vision cleared, contacts still thankfully in place. The host appeared to be a middle aged, somewhat pudgy man, with a bit of a receding hairline. Something very odd is going on here…
“Don’t even think about moving.”
Daniel stayed where he was. The effects of the zat blast had pretty much worn off, but as long as he didn’t move, it seemed possible they might not restrain him yet. They were no longer in the hall, and Daniel was still without a shirt. From the way the skin was burning on his back, he suspected he’d been dragged into this room by his feet. They were clearly still in the Al’kesh, and mentally Daniel reviewed everything he knew about these ships.
“We are now in orbit around my home planet.”
Oh crap, Daniel thought, as the goa’uld began circling him. He knew it was probably futile, but he still couldn’t keep from darting his eyes around the room, trying to see if there was any possible way to improve his odds in this situation.
“It would be quite foolish to attempt escape, with what my defense weapons could do to this ship, even if you did gain control of it.”
“Yes, all those ships and weapons here to protect the ship... Very foolish,” Vala drawled sarcastically, causing Daniel to look up at her.
The Goa’uld glared at Vala, before continuing. “You are only alive at the moment because Vala, my pet, has convinced me that the information you know is valuable.”
Daniel had faced down goa’uld more threatening than this guy before. Daniel had faced down pushy salespeople more threatening than this guy. What was throwing him for a loop was Vala’s involvement. The story she told on the Prometheus about being a host, and the Tokra helping her out was replaying in his mind, as Daniel tried to think of something that would explain her seemingly earnest disapproval of the goa’uld.
“Look, I don’t know what Vala told you, but there has been a huge misunderstanding here. Massive, even.”
On the other hand, as unintimidating as this goa’uld appeared, he had some hold over Vala. All of her furtive glances, Naismith’s explanation of her kiss as subterfuge, it must have all been to hide her actions from him. Daniel had learnt the consequences of underestimating Vala. Even if she seemed to go to great lengths to keep her adversaries alive - if out of her way - Daniel doubted a goa’uld would share that sentiment.
“Then there isn’t any reason I should keep you alive?”
Case in point.
“Wait!” Vala had produced the jacket Daniel had lent her earlier, and when Vala reached into the pockets, his mistake was revealed. Vala had set aside the radio, even set aside the bogus tablet, and was now walking towards him, zat in one hand, and his glasses case in the other. The one with Dr. Daniel Jackson embossed on the side of it.
Daniel groaned. Vala stopped, still several feet away from him.
“Where did you get these?”
“Traded for them in the market. The person who traded them to me claimed they would help in translations - that he’d only picked them up earlier that day. Turns out he conned me. Wasn’t connected to you folks at all, now was he?”
The story tripped off Daniel’s lips easily after a day of make believe. Inwardly, his mind began replaying some of those make believe moments from earlier. When Vala looked as though she might just accept this explanation, Daniel wondered if he’d just saved or shot himself.
“Then how did you know my name?”
What? Oh. The montage of memories in Daniel’s head skipped to an earlier moment in the evening. Vala, a smile on her face, as she laughed off Daniel’s question… The moment of panic must have shown on his face. Vala smiled, but when he looked into her eyes, he saw anger, disappointment, and more than a hint of danger. Daniel swallowed, and switched his focus to the hand that still had a grip on the zat. The hand that had its grip on you not that long ago…
“It was all really a bit much. I’ve met some pretty gullible men before, but not only did you pour out your secrets to a complete stranger, you then all but begged me to come with you on your treasure hunt.”
Vala paused, and while Daniel could tell she wasn’t finished, he launched into the only defense he could think of.
“But… But you must know how beautiful you are. It was love at first sight, and I’m not talking about earlier this evening. I’ve seen you around, made some inquiries, and found out your name and that you had a ship. I… I thought Midas’s hand might be enough to tempt you to consider me, so I waited in the bar for you tonight, hoping I might get a chance to talk to you.”
Daniel swallowed when Vala raised an eyebrow at this explanation. Great, he thought belatedly, now she thinks I’m a stalker and a kidnapper.
She leaned closer then, and Daniel found himself once again looking straight into her eyes, which seemed to dare him to look away. The emotions he’d noticed there earlier had only intensified, and she wasn’t even pretending to smile anymore. He held her gaze, wondering what it was she was really looking to get out of him.
“Tell me what you did with Daniel Jackson.” Her voice was low and silky, causing shudders to run through Daniel’s body before he could stop them.
“I’m sorry. I’ve never heard of him. Was he a friend of yours?”
Vala’s eyes closed off, and Daniel realized his mistake.
“Wait!” he said, reaching out a hand as she straightened and backed away. The solution to the dilemma had occurred to Daniel three seconds too late to implement it. He was going to need to get her close to him again.
That wasn’t going to be an easy task, because as soon as Daniel reached forward, he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. Yep. Definitely not a good idea to underestimate a goa’uld. The man may not have looked to be at his prime, but the grip on his shoulders was definitely strong enough to hold him in place.
“Time’s up. For the record, it was my ship you were trying to con Vala out of.”
Now that’s new information.
“I thought it was our ship, dear.” Vala’s voice was laced with sarcasm, and Daniel was convinced once again that she was as much a victim in this strange situation as he was. They needed to be working together against this guy, not against each other.
“Yes, well, that was before I realized you were going to continue to pick up new men until a better offer came in.”
When Daniel got out of this, he was going to bang his head against a table for awhile, before telling Jack to never, ever make him a spy again. Daniel felt the cool blade of a knife press up against his throat, as the grip on his shoulders squeezed down even hard. He gulped. If I get out of this.
“Now, fool, any final words before I slit your throat for kissing my woman earlier?”
His woman? The irony of the situation was not lost of Daniel. In fact, it had him feeling more than a little punch drunk. This goa’uld, whose name Daniel didn’t even know, had to be one of the least threatening he’d ever met. He’d faced down much smarter enemies than this before, too. However, what made this situation so scary was the desperate sort of crazy that seemed to be driving the actions here. It was too unpredictable.
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 this time. 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, 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, begging her to look into his eyes and see his need. “Vala, if I’m going to die for it, can I at least get another kiss?”
Vala looked at him, and Daniel caught the question in her eyes even as the goa’uld protested.
“No!” he said in a petulant whine. The knife at Daniel’s neck didn’t move, and Daniel tried to keep his breathing steady, as he looked into Vala’s eyes, and nodded slightly. It was enough.
“Dearest, I don’t know what’s gotten into you today. This man is harmless, but if you insist on killing him anyway, the least we can give him is a happy final memory.”
She crossed the room back to him, and knelt down in front of him. Never breaking eye contact with her, Daniel lifted the hand that still wore the ring. He brushed her face with the outside of his hand, putting as much tenderness as he could into the gesture. It was the only apology he could offer at the moment. The stone of the ring slid across her cheek.
Her eyes flew open in shock, and she opened her mouth, whether to protest or play along, Daniel didn’t know, but couldn’t risk. He kissed her, invading her mouth, desperate to finally drive her to distraction the way she had been torturing him since they first met. The moment she returned the kiss, Daniel reached down, and grabbed the zat from her now relaxed hand. He didn’t even have time for a split seconds doubt, so he twisted his hand backwards, aimed hopefully behind his back, and pulled the trigger.
There was a thud as Daniel’s would-be-assassin fell to the ground.
With that taken care of, Daniel moved in to put his arms around Vala, but she had other ideas. She pushed away, staring dumbfounded at him, her arms crossed around her chest in a defensive position. For a few moments, she didn’t say anything, and Daniel took in the spectacle of a speechless Vala.
“Now… I’m hoping you know how to get away from this planet, because, in case you forgot, I don’t really know how to fly one of these things.”
He tried to look more serious, as they weren’t out of danger quite yet, but he knew he couldn’t keep the sheepish grin from his face. Daniel stretched as he finally got up from a kneeling position on the floor. He looked around the room for a shirt or something to throw on, but short of stripping the goa’uld on the floor, something he had no interest in doing, he didn’t see any options.
“You…” Vala tried to speak, but couldn’t seem to get beyond the first word. From the way she was staring at his chest, she also seemed to be aware of his half-stripped state. Daniel stood up straighter, and crossed his arms across his chest.
“Err, yes. Me. Hi. I’m assuming you wanted to get away from that creep as much as I did?”
“You idiot!”
Daniel blinked. What was that saying about assumptions again? Well, at least he still had the weapon, not that that necessarily gave him that much of an advantage over the woman in front of him.
“Vala…?” He asked tentatively, taking a couple steps towards her. “Vala, I don’t need to lock you up again, do I?”
“You idiot!” Vala repeated herself, gesturing wildly in his direction, which seemed to inspire her to continue. “You tricked me!”
Oh for pete’s sake.
“You tricked me!” Daniel pointed in Vala’s direction as he spoke. “Remember?”
“I didn’t trick you, I told you the truth.” She paused, her eyes storming over before she spun around so that she was facing away from Daniel. “You, however, you lied to me!”
Daniel shrugged, even if she wasn’t looking at him. He made sure his grip on the zat was strong, and tried not to think of the unconscious goa’uld still lying on the floor. Is this really the best time to have this conversation? He took another step towards her, when she spoke again
“You told me that you didn’t lie. That you tried to be an honest person.” There was real disappointment in Vala’s voice, which made Daniel grab her shoulder to turn her around, looking at her in exasperation.
“You tricked me when you tried to steal my planet’s only ship. You tricked me when you left my people stranded on a ship - this ship, I’m almost certain of it, no matter what he said. You tricked me this morning, and then you kicked me.”
Vala smiled, as if remembering the moment. Daniel was losing his patience. Placing his other hand on her shoulder so he could shake them, he tried desperately to get a straight answer out of her.
“Now, do you know how to get out of this part of the galaxy, or am I going to have to get us out of this mess all by myself?”
Vala stared at Daniel, before bursting out laughing. It started in her eyes, but in only moments, it was racking through her whole body, and she was rocking from head to toe. Daniel could only raise an eyebrow, cross his arms, and look at her skeptically.
“What?” Daniel was confused. He’d asked a basic question about the chances or their survival at this point, and she was laughing at him.
“You… Daniel…” She was still laughing, but as she shook her head, she appeared to regain control of herself. “Simon, over here, was under the illusion that I was in love with him, and would let him share my ship, while we searched the galaxy for treasures, or at least merchandise we could convince other people to give us treasure for.”
Daniel stared at Vala, confused. “But he’s a goa’uld.”
Vala only shook her head again, before reaching down to grab a device from under the collar of Simon’s shirt.
“No, he’s not. This is something else he tried to steal from me, but its just a simple toy to make ones voice sound like a goa’uld.”
Daniel was sure that the room had started spinning. Speaking of which… “Then the planet that we’re orbiting?”
Vala began walking towards him now, her face full of pity. “Don’t you get it? We never left the planet. You weren’t out for more than fifteen minutes or so - Simon barely had time to drag you in this room before you woke up. I can’t believe you actually fell for his lame story.”
Now Daniel cocked his head as Vala began to circle him. Part of him couldn’t help but feel relieved. He thought of Naismith, waiting outside the ship. He should really radio him with an update. Then again, he had implied that it would take awhile for him to get Vala to show him the tiles, which seemed like an actual possibility, now. There was still another, nagging voice in Daniel’s head, however, that questioned how he could have let himself be duped so badly. He could usually tell when someone was bluffing. No, his first instinct had been right. There had been something odd about the situation. Wait, if this guy isn’t a goa’uld, then what power did he have over Vala?
“Why did he seem to think you were, how did he put it, his mate? I didn’t think he was your type, Vala?” Daniel asked, gesturing once again to the rather awkward looking unattractive man crumpled on the floor.
Vala smirked. “You’re adorable when you’re jealous. I promise you, Daniel, you - in whatever disguise you magically take on - are much more appealing than this poor man here.”
There was more going on, that much was obvious. Daniel told himself it didn’t matter who Vala decided to sleep with - or why - he just wanted to get the tiles, and get back to earth. Of course, now he had to figure out how to get Vala - who seemed pretty pissed off at him moments ago - to do what she hadn’t been willing to do that afternoon. All thoughts of the tiles, however, were put on hold when Daniel felt Vala creep up behind him, and wrap her hands around to begin rubbing his chest.
“What are you doing?” Daniel asked, removing her hands.
Vala didn’t answer, and didn’t seem to get the hint that Daniel wasn’t interested in her games right now. She was slowly walking arount to face him, but she let a finger trail across Daniel’s back, around his shoulder, and finally flicking his nipple before Daniel could grab her hand.
“You know, if I’d known it was you, I would have been more thorough in my strip search earlier. After all, turnaround is only fair play.”
“What?” Daniel was confused, and the memories of exactly what all of her had looked like weren’t exactly helping.
“In fact, I’m beginning to wish I had locked the door on the ship. That would have stalled Simon, maybe even given us enough time to really have some fun.” Vala winked, before looping her fingers through the belt loops on his pants in a way that was achingly familiar to Daniel. “Of course, I’m up for giving it another try.”
“Wait - “ Daniel said, needing to understand something. In order to think clearer, he pushed Vala away again. “Are you saying you knew Simon would interrupt us?”
“Well of course, I was counting on it. A slight miscalculation, now that I think about it.”
“Slight miscalculation?”
“Well, at the time I thought you had kidnapped yourself, and had me next on your list.” Vala seemed to momentarily give up her assault on Daniel, as she didn’t step immediately back into his personal space. “First order of business was to search you, then bring in back up.”
Daniel stared at Vala as she twisted her hair up into a knot. It figured. He had been busy running his fingers through her hair while she was checking him for hidden weapons or wires.
“So you’re saying that the whole time I was …” Daniel trailed off, not sure of what to say.
“Trying to trick me.”
“Whatever.” Daniel ignored the face Vala made. “That whole time, the only reason you… did what you did, was to see if I was hiding anything?”
Vala smiled at Daniel’s irritated tone. “Well, you were hiding something, weren’t you? Apparently I didn’t go far enough.”
Her hands had crept up around his waist again, sitting, waiting. Daniel stood there a moment, wondering just how far she would go if he didn’t stop her. Just how much she would go no matter how he tried to stop her.
“Do you always trap your enemies this way?” Daniel asked. He started to move her hands away, but found his palms fixed to her arms.
“No,” she said, her voice dropping to a husky tone. “Sometimes I trap friends.”
They stood there, like that, for almost a minute. Daniel waited for Vala to make another move. Something, anything, that would be so over the top that he’d have to stop her. She had a motive behind getting under his skin like this. She had as much as told him that. He doubted being friends with Vala was any safer than being her enemy. In fact, it was probably more dangerous.
Is it me, or are her lips coming closer. Daniel’s gaze had dropped to meet Vala’s, and indeed, he could feel the kiss coming, as if time was moving in slow motion. I need to stop, now, before its too late. Daniel didn’t think he could handle this kiss from Vala, because he wouldn’t know if it was real this time. Was it ever really real for her? Would he just be the next big prize for her?
Their lips brushed. Daniel felt himself being charged from behind. Strong arms ripped him back away from Vala. Daniel glanced at the floor, where Simon, obviously, was no longer laying unconscious.
“This time I will kill you!”
“No, this time I think I’ll tie you up,” Daniel said, before stepping down hard on Simon’s foot with the heel of his boot. When the man leaped back, howling in pain, Daniel blasted him with the zat again and Simon crumpled to the floor in a heap once more.
“Ok, for the record, that time I didn’t want him interrupting,” Vala said. “Are you going to steal all my moves? Because that might start to get annoying.”
Daniel rolled his eyes. “Well, can you help me tie him up, at least? I know you have to have something around here that would do the trick.”
Vala hesitated, and Daniel lost his patience.
“Ok, what is up between you two? I know you can’t possibly be keeping him around for the sex.”
Vala raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure about that?”
Daniel closed his eyes briefly, which turned out to be a bad thing, as he was immediately assaulted with mental images he really hadn’t wanted to see. Looking back down at Simon, Daniel shook his head. No, he thought, she is still hiding something.
“Vala…” Daniel gestured around the room, his eyes imploring her to explain to him exactly what was going on. Vala sighed.
“He works with the Lucien Alliance - the organization you managed to get me on the bad side of the last time we met up. While I don’t particularly want to be allied with them, I didn’t feel like trying to battle them either. I was hoping to help Simon here make a nice profit on some loot I helped him find, and then find a way to break it to him gently that things between us were never going to work out in the long run.”
Daniel considered this. One thing was still bugging him. “Whose ship is this, really?”
Vala seemed to consider this question for a moment, her head bouncing as she obviously weighed a few points in her mind. “Well… It was my ship, which I told Simon was our ship to convince him I was serious about our relationship.”
Daniel snorted. Vala glared at him before continuing.
“Since you have once again managed to piss off my connections with the Lucien Alliance, I think I may have to leave the ship for him, though. Of course, that means you need to provide me a way off this planet.”
“If you bring those tiles with you, I think I can probably manage that,” Daniel said, smiling as he crossed his arms on his chest again. He’d get something out of this in the end, after all. Finally feeling like he knew what was going on, he felt comfortable enough to ask the nagging question on his mind.
“You seemed pretty concerned when you thought something had happened to me.”
Vala had been pacing throughout their conversation, but at this question, she froze. She was now standing just off to his side, so he turned to look at her. Returning the zat to the holster on his waist as a show of trust, Daniel then used both hands to gently grasp her arms under the elbows, so that her arms ended up resting on top of his.
“Yes, well, no matter what you said, I couldn’t make heads or tails of those tiles. You seemed to be the only person who might be able to help with that.”
Daniel continued to look into her eyes, raising one eyebrow slightly to show he was still waiting for a better answer. She sighed, and broke eye contact to look over his shoulder.
“You are a good person, Daniel Jackson. One of only a few I’ve ever met.”
Daniel smiled, and let his thumb brush her arm. Vala took a deep breath, and looked straight into his eyes before continuing.
“I didn’t know who you were the last time we met, but I could tell you were decent, right from the start. Then I found out about the fight you and your people have put up against the goa’uld over the years.”
Vala let the way her hands rested on Daniel’s arms shift slightly, just enough so that she could squeeze his arm. The strength of her gaze made Daniel want to believe he was seeing past her façade this time.
“I never used to believe that it was really possible to take on the goa’uld as a race. You gave me hope that one day, maybe soon, they won’t be in a position to terrorize people like m -“ Vala blinked, and momentarily looked over Daniel’s shoulder. “People all over this crazy galaxy. You made me actually feel guilty when I realized what I had almost done to your people. I steal things whose value can be measured in gold, not potential lives. If I trick people, I do it knowing they probably deserve it. Knowing they’d do the same to me, if given the chance.”
Daniel didn’t say anything, wasn’t quite sure what to say. The last time Vala had gone sentimental on him like this, she had been lying. Well, mostly lying. People like me, she had been about to say. She had been a host at one point, her ability to use the healing device had proven that back when they first met. Daniel thought of Sha're, of Sarah, of the years he had spent fighting the goa’uld for their souls. Now, a woman who had survived the demons was laying the responsibilities of the galaxy on his doorstep. He couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he had misjudged Vala, if they all had. Looking at her now, Daniel couldn’t help but see potential for something pretty special in her.
They’d do the same to me, if given the chance. Daniel stood there awhile, not saying anything. After everything she had done that day, after nearly getting him killed… Was he the one who owed her an apology? He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, her expression changed.
“Of course, I’m not sure what to think now that I know the fate of the galaxy is hanging in the hands of someone who can be taken in so easily.”
The playful mocking was back in her voice, and the smile on her face was the same one she had greeted him with that morning, which was why Daniel pushed away, retreating a few steps to safety when her hands began to tease his bare chest.
“Yes, well, I managed to get onto your ship, didn’t I?”
“Oh Daniel,” Vala rolled her eyes as she spoke. She tried to step back into his arms, but Daniel took another step back. “If that’s all you wanted, you just had to ask.”
She took another step forward, and Daniel found himself backed into a wall. When her arms wrapped around the back of his neck, Daniel sighed and gave in to the inevitable, his hands seeming to wrap around her waist of their own accord. He leaned in, but found his lips somewhere in her hair as Vala’s found their way to his ear.
“I’m just messing with you, of course.”
Daniel blinked, and Vala straightened herself back up, his zat gun once again in her possession. He stared, bewildered, as his heart tried to catch up with what his brain was already telling him. No! No, I don’t believe it, not this time. He desperately tried to make eye contact again, even reaching his hand out to brush her cheek.
She stepped back before he could touch her. Daniel noticed that her hand, the one holding the zat, was shaking. She lowered it to her side, but continued to step away when Daniel tried to move closer to her again. Finally, he at least managed to get her to look him in the eyes again. For the few brief seconds she let him have, Daniel saw enough to tell him all he needed to know. Then, taking in a deep breath, her walls went back up again.
“Now. I believe you have a treasure map to translate for me.”
Daniel shook his head, and this time when he leaned in to touch her cheek one last time, she let him. Catching her chin between his thumb and finger, he leaned in, and forced himself to smile.
“Vala,” he said.
She looked up at him enquiringly. Daniel let go of her face.
“The tiles… They aren’t a treasure map.”
“That’s what you think, Daniel.” Vala turned around, and began walking to the other room.
Over eight years of going through the Stargate meant that Daniel was able to maintain his death grip on Vala’s arms even after they came through the event horizon.
“The ring?” He demanded, holding her an arms length away.
Vala sighed, before slipping the ring off her thumb and holding it out to him. Whoever Vala had posed as, the Jaffa at the gate had almost pushed them through to get them off the planet.
Daniel pocketed the ring - once he got back to earth, he’d hand it in to Jack, and someone else could make sure SG-7 got it back. Even after doing so, he found he couldn’t bring himself to let go of Vala.
She looked down at his grip on her arm in amusement. “I’m not armed, you know.”
“Do you think that means I trust you?”
“I’m trusting you! What am I getting out of all of this again? I had a ship, and now I don’t. I had weapons, and now I don’t. I had a way to make a truce with the Lucien Alliance, and now -”
“And now you have the beginnings of a truce with earth. At least, we’ll cancel the notice to shoot you on sight.”
Vala seemed to consider this. “Well, as long as you find a way to defeat the goa’uld.”
“Yes,” Daniel answered flatly. “I’ll make sure we try extra hard, now. Just for you.”
Daniel released her arm, and motioned over to the DHD. This planet was one with no inhabitants, and no known source of value. Just a stopover point. A transition point.
Vala wasn’t moving. In fact, she now had a hand on Daniel’s arm. “Look me up sometime. If I hear its you, I’ll let the men your planet will no doubt try to have trail me actually succeed.”
Daniel rolled his eyes, but didn’t feel inclined to return her sentiments. He was sure if she wanted to, she could find a way to get in touch with earth. In fact, he had a feeling they should probably be expecting her.
“Goodbye, Vala.”
Vala went over to the DHD, and dialed a set of coordinates. Without saying anything, she started to walk towards the open wormhole. Then, in a flash, she was standing in front of Daniel, and pulling his head down for a brief, blinding kiss. Almost before Daniel could respond, she had pulled away again, walking backwards towards the Gate.
“See you again soon, Daniel,” she said before disappearing into the rippling puddle.
Daniel paused for a moment, as the event horizon collapsed. She didn’t know it - he was certain of that much - but she had stolen something from him this time. Something he didn’t think he could just take back.
I had a good reputation, and now I don’t. I had dignity and integrity, and now I don’t. I had contentment with my life, and now…
Daniel broke off the thought before it could form. He needed to get back to earth and debrief before Jack started hearing crazy rumours about what had gone on in that ship.
Daniel walked into Jack’s office, put the report down on his desk, and turned to leave again.
“Daniel.”
“Jack?”
“Naismith turned in his report last week already, you know.”
Daniel didn’t say anything. Couldn’t say anything.
“Just read the report, Jack.”
“Is this something I’m going to want popcorn for?”
Daniel had reached the door to Jack’s office, and was halfway through before he bothered to answer.
“The tiles were decorative, Jack.”
Finis
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Daniel had a headache. A very annoying headache that was only being aggravated by the people shouting at each other around him. He kept his eyes closed, hoping to shut them out.
“Vala, don’t try to make up excuses. I saw you two together - twice!”
Daniel had never heard such a whiny goa’uld before.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I lured him back to the ship for two reasons, to get him to reveal where the treasure is located, and to find out what he did with D - with a very valuable target.”
“You were kissing him!”
“Obviously. Look, can’t you take that thing off?”
The fog in his mind was clearing, and realizing the trouble he’d gotten himself in Daniel let out a groan. He immediately wished he hadn’t, as it brought Vala and the goa’uld over. Opening his eyes, Daniel studied the goa’uld curiously as his vision cleared, contacts still thankfully in place. The host appeared to be a middle aged, somewhat pudgy man, with a bit of a receding hairline. Something very odd is going on here…
“Don’t even think about moving.”
Daniel stayed where he was. The effects of the zat blast had pretty much worn off, but as long as he didn’t move, it seemed possible they might not restrain him yet. They were no longer in the hall, and Daniel was still without a shirt. From the way the skin was burning on his back, he suspected he’d been dragged into this room by his feet. They were clearly still in the Al’kesh, and mentally Daniel reviewed everything he knew about these ships.
“We are now in orbit around my home planet.”
Oh crap, Daniel thought, as the goa’uld began circling him. He knew it was probably futile, but he still couldn’t keep from darting his eyes around the room, trying to see if there was any possible way to improve his odds in this situation.
“It would be quite foolish to attempt escape, with what my defense weapons could do to this ship, even if you did gain control of it.”
“Yes, all those ships and weapons here to protect the ship... Very foolish,” Vala drawled sarcastically, causing Daniel to look up at her.
The Goa’uld glared at Vala, before continuing. “You are only alive at the moment because Vala, my pet, has convinced me that the information you know is valuable.”
Daniel had faced down goa’uld more threatening than this guy before. Daniel had faced down pushy salespeople more threatening than this guy. What was throwing him for a loop was Vala’s involvement. The story she told on the Prometheus about being a host, and the Tokra helping her out was replaying in his mind, as Daniel tried to think of something that would explain her seemingly earnest disapproval of the goa’uld.
“Look, I don’t know what Vala told you, but there has been a huge misunderstanding here. Massive, even.”
On the other hand, as unintimidating as this goa’uld appeared, he had some hold over Vala. All of her furtive glances, Naismith’s explanation of her kiss as subterfuge, it must have all been to hide her actions from him. Daniel had learnt the consequences of underestimating Vala. Even if she seemed to go to great lengths to keep her adversaries alive - if out of her way - Daniel doubted a goa’uld would share that sentiment.
“Then there isn’t any reason I should keep you alive?”
Case in point.
“Wait!” Vala had produced the jacket Daniel had lent her earlier, and when Vala reached into the pockets, his mistake was revealed. Vala had set aside the radio, even set aside the bogus tablet, and was now walking towards him, zat in one hand, and his glasses case in the other. The one with Dr. Daniel Jackson embossed on the side of it.
Daniel groaned. Vala stopped, still several feet away from him.
“Where did you get these?”
“Traded for them in the market. The person who traded them to me claimed they would help in translations - that he’d only picked them up earlier that day. Turns out he conned me. Wasn’t connected to you folks at all, now was he?”
The story tripped off Daniel’s lips easily after a day of make believe. Inwardly, his mind began replaying some of those make believe moments from earlier. When Vala looked as though she might just accept this explanation, Daniel wondered if he’d just saved or shot himself.
“Then how did you know my name?”
What? Oh. The montage of memories in Daniel’s head skipped to an earlier moment in the evening. Vala, a smile on her face, as she laughed off Daniel’s question… The moment of panic must have shown on his face. Vala smiled, but when he looked into her eyes, he saw anger, disappointment, and more than a hint of danger. Daniel swallowed, and switched his focus to the hand that still had a grip on the zat. The hand that had its grip on you not that long ago…
“It was all really a bit much. I’ve met some pretty gullible men before, but not only did you pour out your secrets to a complete stranger, you then all but begged me to come with you on your treasure hunt.”
Vala paused, and while Daniel could tell she wasn’t finished, he launched into the only defense he could think of.
“But… But you must know how beautiful you are. It was love at first sight, and I’m not talking about earlier this evening. I’ve seen you around, made some inquiries, and found out your name and that you had a ship. I… I thought Midas’s hand might be enough to tempt you to consider me, so I waited in the bar for you tonight, hoping I might get a chance to talk to you.”
Daniel swallowed when Vala raised an eyebrow at this explanation. Great, he thought belatedly, now she thinks I’m a stalker and a kidnapper.
She leaned closer then, and Daniel found himself once again looking straight into her eyes, which seemed to dare him to look away. The emotions he’d noticed there earlier had only intensified, and she wasn’t even pretending to smile anymore. He held her gaze, wondering what it was she was really looking to get out of him.
“Tell me what you did with Daniel Jackson.” Her voice was low and silky, causing shudders to run through Daniel’s body before he could stop them.
“I’m sorry. I’ve never heard of him. Was he a friend of yours?”
Vala’s eyes closed off, and Daniel realized his mistake.
“Wait!” he said, reaching out a hand as she straightened and backed away. The solution to the dilemma had occurred to Daniel three seconds too late to implement it. He was going to need to get her close to him again.
That wasn’t going to be an easy task, because as soon as Daniel reached forward, he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. Yep. Definitely not a good idea to underestimate a goa’uld. The man may not have looked to be at his prime, but the grip on his shoulders was definitely strong enough to hold him in place.
“Time’s up. For the record, it was my ship you were trying to con Vala out of.”
Now that’s new information.
“I thought it was our ship, dear.” Vala’s voice was laced with sarcasm, and Daniel was convinced once again that she was as much a victim in this strange situation as he was. They needed to be working together against this guy, not against each other.
“Yes, well, that was before I realized you were going to continue to pick up new men until a better offer came in.”
When Daniel got out of this, he was going to bang his head against a table for awhile, before telling Jack to never, ever make him a spy again. Daniel felt the cool blade of a knife press up against his throat, as the grip on his shoulders squeezed down even hard. He gulped. If I get out of this.
“Now, fool, any final words before I slit your throat for kissing my woman earlier?”
His woman? The irony of the situation was not lost of Daniel. In fact, it had him feeling more than a little punch drunk. This goa’uld, whose name Daniel didn’t even know, had to be one of the least threatening he’d ever met. He’d faced down much smarter enemies than this before, too. However, what made this situation so scary was the desperate sort of crazy that seemed to be driving the actions here. It was too unpredictable.
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 this time. 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, 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, begging her to look into his eyes and see his need. “Vala, if I’m going to die for it, can I at least get another kiss?”
Vala looked at him, and Daniel caught the question in her eyes even as the goa’uld protested.
“No!” he said in a petulant whine. The knife at Daniel’s neck didn’t move, and Daniel tried to keep his breathing steady, as he looked into Vala’s eyes, and nodded slightly. It was enough.
“Dearest, I don’t know what’s gotten into you today. This man is harmless, but if you insist on killing him anyway, the least we can give him is a happy final memory.”
She crossed the room back to him, and knelt down in front of him. Never breaking eye contact with her, Daniel lifted the hand that still wore the ring. He brushed her face with the outside of his hand, putting as much tenderness as he could into the gesture. It was the only apology he could offer at the moment. The stone of the ring slid across her cheek.
Her eyes flew open in shock, and she opened her mouth, whether to protest or play along, Daniel didn’t know, but couldn’t risk. He kissed her, invading her mouth, desperate to finally drive her to distraction the way she had been torturing him since they first met. The moment she returned the kiss, Daniel reached down, and grabbed the zat from her now relaxed hand. He didn’t even have time for a split seconds doubt, so he twisted his hand backwards, aimed hopefully behind his back, and pulled the trigger.
There was a thud as Daniel’s would-be-assassin fell to the ground.
With that taken care of, Daniel moved in to put his arms around Vala, but she had other ideas. She pushed away, staring dumbfounded at him, her arms crossed around her chest in a defensive position. For a few moments, she didn’t say anything, and Daniel took in the spectacle of a speechless Vala.
“Now… I’m hoping you know how to get away from this planet, because, in case you forgot, I don’t really know how to fly one of these things.”
He tried to look more serious, as they weren’t out of danger quite yet, but he knew he couldn’t keep the sheepish grin from his face. Daniel stretched as he finally got up from a kneeling position on the floor. He looked around the room for a shirt or something to throw on, but short of stripping the goa’uld on the floor, something he had no interest in doing, he didn’t see any options.
“You…” Vala tried to speak, but couldn’t seem to get beyond the first word. From the way she was staring at his chest, she also seemed to be aware of his half-stripped state. Daniel stood up straighter, and crossed his arms across his chest.
“Err, yes. Me. Hi. I’m assuming you wanted to get away from that creep as much as I did?”
“You idiot!”
Daniel blinked. What was that saying about assumptions again? Well, at least he still had the weapon, not that that necessarily gave him that much of an advantage over the woman in front of him.
“Vala…?” He asked tentatively, taking a couple steps towards her. “Vala, I don’t need to lock you up again, do I?”
“You idiot!” Vala repeated herself, gesturing wildly in his direction, which seemed to inspire her to continue. “You tricked me!”
Oh for pete’s sake.
“You tricked me!” Daniel pointed in Vala’s direction as he spoke. “Remember?”
“I didn’t trick you, I told you the truth.” She paused, her eyes storming over before she spun around so that she was facing away from Daniel. “You, however, you lied to me!”
Daniel shrugged, even if she wasn’t looking at him. He made sure his grip on the zat was strong, and tried not to think of the unconscious goa’uld still lying on the floor. Is this really the best time to have this conversation? He took another step towards her, when she spoke again
“You told me that you didn’t lie. That you tried to be an honest person.” There was real disappointment in Vala’s voice, which made Daniel grab her shoulder to turn her around, looking at her in exasperation.
“You tricked me when you tried to steal my planet’s only ship. You tricked me when you left my people stranded on a ship - this ship, I’m almost certain of it, no matter what he said. You tricked me this morning, and then you kicked me.”
Vala smiled, as if remembering the moment. Daniel was losing his patience. Placing his other hand on her shoulder so he could shake them, he tried desperately to get a straight answer out of her.
“Now, do you know how to get out of this part of the galaxy, or am I going to have to get us out of this mess all by myself?”
Vala stared at Daniel, before bursting out laughing. It started in her eyes, but in only moments, it was racking through her whole body, and she was rocking from head to toe. Daniel could only raise an eyebrow, cross his arms, and look at her skeptically.
“What?” Daniel was confused. He’d asked a basic question about the chances or their survival at this point, and she was laughing at him.
“You… Daniel…” She was still laughing, but as she shook her head, she appeared to regain control of herself. “Simon, over here, was under the illusion that I was in love with him, and would let him share my ship, while we searched the galaxy for treasures, or at least merchandise we could convince other people to give us treasure for.”
Daniel stared at Vala, confused. “But he’s a goa’uld.”
Vala only shook her head again, before reaching down to grab a device from under the collar of Simon’s shirt.
“No, he’s not. This is something else he tried to steal from me, but its just a simple toy to make ones voice sound like a goa’uld.”
Daniel was sure that the room had started spinning. Speaking of which… “Then the planet that we’re orbiting?”
Vala began walking towards him now, her face full of pity. “Don’t you get it? We never left the planet. You weren’t out for more than fifteen minutes or so - Simon barely had time to drag you in this room before you woke up. I can’t believe you actually fell for his lame story.”
Now Daniel cocked his head as Vala began to circle him. Part of him couldn’t help but feel relieved. He thought of Naismith, waiting outside the ship. He should really radio him with an update. Then again, he had implied that it would take awhile for him to get Vala to show him the tiles, which seemed like an actual possibility, now. There was still another, nagging voice in Daniel’s head, however, that questioned how he could have let himself be duped so badly. He could usually tell when someone was bluffing. No, his first instinct had been right. There had been something odd about the situation. Wait, if this guy isn’t a goa’uld, then what power did he have over Vala?
“Why did he seem to think you were, how did he put it, his mate? I didn’t think he was your type, Vala?” Daniel asked, gesturing once again to the rather awkward looking unattractive man crumpled on the floor.
Vala smirked. “You’re adorable when you’re jealous. I promise you, Daniel, you - in whatever disguise you magically take on - are much more appealing than this poor man here.”
There was more going on, that much was obvious. Daniel told himself it didn’t matter who Vala decided to sleep with - or why - he just wanted to get the tiles, and get back to earth. Of course, now he had to figure out how to get Vala - who seemed pretty pissed off at him moments ago - to do what she hadn’t been willing to do that afternoon. All thoughts of the tiles, however, were put on hold when Daniel felt Vala creep up behind him, and wrap her hands around to begin rubbing his chest.
“What are you doing?” Daniel asked, removing her hands.
Vala didn’t answer, and didn’t seem to get the hint that Daniel wasn’t interested in her games right now. She was slowly walking arount to face him, but she let a finger trail across Daniel’s back, around his shoulder, and finally flicking his nipple before Daniel could grab her hand.
“You know, if I’d known it was you, I would have been more thorough in my strip search earlier. After all, turnaround is only fair play.”
“What?” Daniel was confused, and the memories of exactly what all of her had looked like weren’t exactly helping.
“In fact, I’m beginning to wish I had locked the door on the ship. That would have stalled Simon, maybe even given us enough time to really have some fun.” Vala winked, before looping her fingers through the belt loops on his pants in a way that was achingly familiar to Daniel. “Of course, I’m up for giving it another try.”
“Wait - “ Daniel said, needing to understand something. In order to think clearer, he pushed Vala away again. “Are you saying you knew Simon would interrupt us?”
“Well of course, I was counting on it. A slight miscalculation, now that I think about it.”
“Slight miscalculation?”
“Well, at the time I thought you had kidnapped yourself, and had me next on your list.” Vala seemed to momentarily give up her assault on Daniel, as she didn’t step immediately back into his personal space. “First order of business was to search you, then bring in back up.”
Daniel stared at Vala as she twisted her hair up into a knot. It figured. He had been busy running his fingers through her hair while she was checking him for hidden weapons or wires.
“So you’re saying that the whole time I was …” Daniel trailed off, not sure of what to say.
“Trying to trick me.”
“Whatever.” Daniel ignored the face Vala made. “That whole time, the only reason you… did what you did, was to see if I was hiding anything?”
Vala smiled at Daniel’s irritated tone. “Well, you were hiding something, weren’t you? Apparently I didn’t go far enough.”
Her hands had crept up around his waist again, sitting, waiting. Daniel stood there a moment, wondering just how far she would go if he didn’t stop her. Just how much she would go no matter how he tried to stop her.
“Do you always trap your enemies this way?” Daniel asked. He started to move her hands away, but found his palms fixed to her arms.
“No,” she said, her voice dropping to a husky tone. “Sometimes I trap friends.”
They stood there, like that, for almost a minute. Daniel waited for Vala to make another move. Something, anything, that would be so over the top that he’d have to stop her. She had a motive behind getting under his skin like this. She had as much as told him that. He doubted being friends with Vala was any safer than being her enemy. In fact, it was probably more dangerous.
Is it me, or are her lips coming closer. Daniel’s gaze had dropped to meet Vala’s, and indeed, he could feel the kiss coming, as if time was moving in slow motion. I need to stop, now, before its too late. Daniel didn’t think he could handle this kiss from Vala, because he wouldn’t know if it was real this time. Was it ever really real for her? Would he just be the next big prize for her?
Their lips brushed. Daniel felt himself being charged from behind. Strong arms ripped him back away from Vala. Daniel glanced at the floor, where Simon, obviously, was no longer laying unconscious.
“This time I will kill you!”
“No, this time I think I’ll tie you up,” Daniel said, before stepping down hard on Simon’s foot with the heel of his boot. When the man leaped back, howling in pain, Daniel blasted him with the zat again and Simon crumpled to the floor in a heap once more.
“Ok, for the record, that time I didn’t want him interrupting,” Vala said. “Are you going to steal all my moves? Because that might start to get annoying.”
Daniel rolled his eyes. “Well, can you help me tie him up, at least? I know you have to have something around here that would do the trick.”
Vala hesitated, and Daniel lost his patience.
“Ok, what is up between you two? I know you can’t possibly be keeping him around for the sex.”
Vala raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure about that?”
Daniel closed his eyes briefly, which turned out to be a bad thing, as he was immediately assaulted with mental images he really hadn’t wanted to see. Looking back down at Simon, Daniel shook his head. No, he thought, she is still hiding something.
“Vala…” Daniel gestured around the room, his eyes imploring her to explain to him exactly what was going on. Vala sighed.
“He works with the Lucien Alliance - the organization you managed to get me on the bad side of the last time we met up. While I don’t particularly want to be allied with them, I didn’t feel like trying to battle them either. I was hoping to help Simon here make a nice profit on some loot I helped him find, and then find a way to break it to him gently that things between us were never going to work out in the long run.”
Daniel considered this. One thing was still bugging him. “Whose ship is this, really?”
Vala seemed to consider this question for a moment, her head bouncing as she obviously weighed a few points in her mind. “Well… It was my ship, which I told Simon was our ship to convince him I was serious about our relationship.”
Daniel snorted. Vala glared at him before continuing.
“Since you have once again managed to piss off my connections with the Lucien Alliance, I think I may have to leave the ship for him, though. Of course, that means you need to provide me a way off this planet.”
“If you bring those tiles with you, I think I can probably manage that,” Daniel said, smiling as he crossed his arms on his chest again. He’d get something out of this in the end, after all. Finally feeling like he knew what was going on, he felt comfortable enough to ask the nagging question on his mind.
“You seemed pretty concerned when you thought something had happened to me.”
Vala had been pacing throughout their conversation, but at this question, she froze. She was now standing just off to his side, so he turned to look at her. Returning the zat to the holster on his waist as a show of trust, Daniel then used both hands to gently grasp her arms under the elbows, so that her arms ended up resting on top of his.
“Yes, well, no matter what you said, I couldn’t make heads or tails of those tiles. You seemed to be the only person who might be able to help with that.”
Daniel continued to look into her eyes, raising one eyebrow slightly to show he was still waiting for a better answer. She sighed, and broke eye contact to look over his shoulder.
“You are a good person, Daniel Jackson. One of only a few I’ve ever met.”
Daniel smiled, and let his thumb brush her arm. Vala took a deep breath, and looked straight into his eyes before continuing.
“I didn’t know who you were the last time we met, but I could tell you were decent, right from the start. Then I found out about the fight you and your people have put up against the goa’uld over the years.”
Vala let the way her hands rested on Daniel’s arms shift slightly, just enough so that she could squeeze his arm. The strength of her gaze made Daniel want to believe he was seeing past her façade this time.
“I never used to believe that it was really possible to take on the goa’uld as a race. You gave me hope that one day, maybe soon, they won’t be in a position to terrorize people like m -“ Vala blinked, and momentarily looked over Daniel’s shoulder. “People all over this crazy galaxy. You made me actually feel guilty when I realized what I had almost done to your people. I steal things whose value can be measured in gold, not potential lives. If I trick people, I do it knowing they probably deserve it. Knowing they’d do the same to me, if given the chance.”
Daniel didn’t say anything, wasn’t quite sure what to say. The last time Vala had gone sentimental on him like this, she had been lying. Well, mostly lying. People like me, she had been about to say. She had been a host at one point, her ability to use the healing device had proven that back when they first met. Daniel thought of Sha're, of Sarah, of the years he had spent fighting the goa’uld for their souls. Now, a woman who had survived the demons was laying the responsibilities of the galaxy on his doorstep. He couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he had misjudged Vala, if they all had. Looking at her now, Daniel couldn’t help but see potential for something pretty special in her.
They’d do the same to me, if given the chance. Daniel stood there awhile, not saying anything. After everything she had done that day, after nearly getting him killed… Was he the one who owed her an apology? He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, her expression changed.
“Of course, I’m not sure what to think now that I know the fate of the galaxy is hanging in the hands of someone who can be taken in so easily.”
The playful mocking was back in her voice, and the smile on her face was the same one she had greeted him with that morning, which was why Daniel pushed away, retreating a few steps to safety when her hands began to tease his bare chest.
“Yes, well, I managed to get onto your ship, didn’t I?”
“Oh Daniel,” Vala rolled her eyes as she spoke. She tried to step back into his arms, but Daniel took another step back. “If that’s all you wanted, you just had to ask.”
She took another step forward, and Daniel found himself backed into a wall. When her arms wrapped around the back of his neck, Daniel sighed and gave in to the inevitable, his hands seeming to wrap around her waist of their own accord. He leaned in, but found his lips somewhere in her hair as Vala’s found their way to his ear.
“I’m just messing with you, of course.”
Daniel blinked, and Vala straightened herself back up, his zat gun once again in her possession. He stared, bewildered, as his heart tried to catch up with what his brain was already telling him. No! No, I don’t believe it, not this time. He desperately tried to make eye contact again, even reaching his hand out to brush her cheek.
She stepped back before he could touch her. Daniel noticed that her hand, the one holding the zat, was shaking. She lowered it to her side, but continued to step away when Daniel tried to move closer to her again. Finally, he at least managed to get her to look him in the eyes again. For the few brief seconds she let him have, Daniel saw enough to tell him all he needed to know. Then, taking in a deep breath, her walls went back up again.
“Now. I believe you have a treasure map to translate for me.”
Daniel shook his head, and this time when he leaned in to touch her cheek one last time, she let him. Catching her chin between his thumb and finger, he leaned in, and forced himself to smile.
“Vala,” he said.
She looked up at him enquiringly. Daniel let go of her face.
“The tiles… They aren’t a treasure map.”
“That’s what you think, Daniel.” Vala turned around, and began walking to the other room.
Over eight years of going through the Stargate meant that Daniel was able to maintain his death grip on Vala’s arms even after they came through the event horizon.
“The ring?” He demanded, holding her an arms length away.
Vala sighed, before slipping the ring off her thumb and holding it out to him. Whoever Vala had posed as, the Jaffa at the gate had almost pushed them through to get them off the planet.
Daniel pocketed the ring - once he got back to earth, he’d hand it in to Jack, and someone else could make sure SG-7 got it back. Even after doing so, he found he couldn’t bring himself to let go of Vala.
She looked down at his grip on her arm in amusement. “I’m not armed, you know.”
“Do you think that means I trust you?”
“I’m trusting you! What am I getting out of all of this again? I had a ship, and now I don’t. I had weapons, and now I don’t. I had a way to make a truce with the Lucien Alliance, and now -”
“And now you have the beginnings of a truce with earth. At least, we’ll cancel the notice to shoot you on sight.”
Vala seemed to consider this. “Well, as long as you find a way to defeat the goa’uld.”
“Yes,” Daniel answered flatly. “I’ll make sure we try extra hard, now. Just for you.”
Daniel released her arm, and motioned over to the DHD. This planet was one with no inhabitants, and no known source of value. Just a stopover point. A transition point.
Vala wasn’t moving. In fact, she now had a hand on Daniel’s arm. “Look me up sometime. If I hear its you, I’ll let the men your planet will no doubt try to have trail me actually succeed.”
Daniel rolled his eyes, but didn’t feel inclined to return her sentiments. He was sure if she wanted to, she could find a way to get in touch with earth. In fact, he had a feeling they should probably be expecting her.
“Goodbye, Vala.”
Vala went over to the DHD, and dialed a set of coordinates. Without saying anything, she started to walk towards the open wormhole. Then, in a flash, she was standing in front of Daniel, and pulling his head down for a brief, blinding kiss. Almost before Daniel could respond, she had pulled away again, walking backwards towards the Gate.
“See you again soon, Daniel,” she said before disappearing into the rippling puddle.
Daniel paused for a moment, as the event horizon collapsed. She didn’t know it - he was certain of that much - but she had stolen something from him this time. Something he didn’t think he could just take back.
I had a good reputation, and now I don’t. I had dignity and integrity, and now I don’t. I had contentment with my life, and now…
Daniel broke off the thought before it could form. He needed to get back to earth and debrief before Jack started hearing crazy rumours about what had gone on in that ship.
Daniel walked into Jack’s office, put the report down on his desk, and turned to leave again.
“Daniel.”
“Jack?”
“Naismith turned in his report last week already, you know.”
Daniel didn’t say anything. Couldn’t say anything.
“Just read the report, Jack.”
“Is this something I’m going to want popcorn for?”
Daniel had reached the door to Jack’s office, and was halfway through before he bothered to answer.
“The tiles were decorative, Jack.”
Finis
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