Vala sat alone at a table in the commissary, her fork dispassionately stabbing food that barely passed as breakfast. Her long, black hair was strewn about, nearly hiding her face save for the tired, worn eyes with dark circles underneath. A deep frown seemed permanently etched into her skin. The image she presented was that of someone who had not gotten much sleep at all. It was true – she could count the hours of sleep she’d had last night on one hand. The image, seared into her mind, of Daniel being intimate with Colonel Carter was responsible.

At first, she had wondered if she was seeing things, or if it had been a figment of her imagination. She angrily berated herself for even entertaining that notion. She knew that what she’d seen had been too real. Heck, she’d known that Daniel and Sam had been close friends, and Daniel’s defense of Sam the night before had reinforced that notion. Nevertheless, she still held onto the nearly unattainable hope that what they had didn’t go past friendship, and that she herself would still have a chance to develop a closer relationship with the archaeologist.

One thing she was glad for was that virtually everyone in the commissary had the good grace to stay away from her. She was in such a rotten mood right now and was certain she would bite someone’s head off if they even batted an eyelash at her.

Staring at her unappetizing food, she sensed someone close by. Vala risked a quick glance upward on the off chance that it was Daniel. Instead she found the stoic gaze of Teal’c. She didn’t say a word to him and tried as best as she could to get some of the overcooked scrambled eggs onto her fork. Hopefully he would take a hint and realize that she didn’t want to be bothered.

After a few moments in silence, she lifted her gaze upward again and found the Jaffa still standing there. His expression was expectant and perhaps tinged with curiosity. She glanced down at the table and found a tray with a bowl of cereal placed across from her. Teal’c obviously had no desire to leave her alone.

“What?” she grumbled, her mouth full as she glared at him.

“Does something trouble you, Vala Mal Doran?” Teal’c asked.

Vala snorted at the obviously rhetorical question. She didn’t see any reason to tell him about what was causing her to be unhappy. Vala was usually a fiercely independent person who liked to deal with problems herself before opening up to others. She knew that Teal’c wasn’t going away, so she decided to talk about something entirely different. “This … food is absolutely horrid,” she griped, referring to the eggs. “After being on this planet all this time, I still can’t figure out why this substance is more like rubber than something edible.”

“After living among the Tau’ri for more than ten years, I have not been able to understand this either. That is why I find these ‘Froot Loops’ much more preferable. Their strangely unnatural colors have always perplexed me, but their taste remains sufficient. I believe I have General O’Neill to thank for this.”

Vala didn’t want to admit it, but she somehow found his statement amusing. The right corner of her mouth barely lifted into something closer to a half smile than a smirk. She released an explosive breath and directed her eyes back down to her plate, not seeing the hint of a grin on Teal’c’s face. She was about to pile more of this so-called food into her mouth when she heard more footsteps.

She lifted her gaze and found Cam heading toward their table with food of his own. He was smiling genially, just like always.

“Hey there,” he started. His smile dissolved upon sight of Vala’s haggard expression. “Whoa, what happened to you? Have a rough night?” he addressed her.

Reminded of the unpleasant sight she found the night before, Vala felt a wave of nausea hit her. Just when she thought she was feeling better, Mitchell just had to make things worse. She plastered a fake smile to her face. “Why, no, I’m absolutely positively fine and dandy, Cameron!” she exclaimed.

Cam’s dubious expression revealed that he was not buying this. “It helps to talk about it,” he said simply.

Vala’s phony act crumbled. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she said. “And, frankly, it’s none of your business.”

Mitchell met her eyes with concern as he took the seat next to Teal’c. “Are you sure?”

Vala decided she was no longer hungry and got up from the table. “Yes. This is something I have to deal with myself,” she told him. She deposited the uneaten food in the trash and headed for the doors.

“Oh, hey, wait a minute, Vala. I need to talk to you about something,” Cam suddenly called out to her.

“Talk later!” she replied as she stalked from the room, not bothering to look back at him.

Vala strode determinedly down the corridor, her quarters being the ultimate destination. She nearly jumped when Sergeant Walter Harriman suddenly appeared in front of her face from a joining corridor. “Vala, could you please give these computer diagnostics to Colonel Carter?” he asked.

Vala glared at him and thrust her hand out, gesturing for the papers. The Sergeant presented them to her and then politely nodded, “thanks.” Not saying a word, Vala snatched the papers from him and abruptly turned in the direction of Sam’s office. Noting her strange behavior, Walter gazed oddly at her retreating form before shrugging and walking away.

Thanks to Walter and the computer diagnostics, there had now been a change of plans. Sam had been rude toward Vala when her little “problem” surfaced several months ago. As Vala’s irrational anger overshadowed everything in her thought process, she wondered if Sam had acted that way deliberately to win Daniel’s sympathy and draw them closer together. She conveniently ignored the undeniable fact that the linguist and the astrophysicist were good, close friends. The image of their intimacy continued to burn within her and it made her all the madder.

Not finding Sam in her office, Vala thought she’d have better luck at the other woman’s lab. She succeeded, as she found Sam inside and working on something with Dr. Lee. The two scientists looked quite busy. Well, too bad; she was going to have it out with Sam either way. She straightened up and knocked on the doorjamb. Neither scientist looked up from their busywork.

“Colonel Carter, Sergeant Harriman asked me to deliver these to you,” she announced abruptly.

That got Sam’s attention. She removed her safety goggles and headed toward the door, looking at Vala curiously and seeming a bit surprised to see her. “Oh, uh … thanks, Vala,” she said awkwardly as the other woman handed her some papers.

Sam forced a smile and nodded, but Vala stayed put and stared at her. Sam raised her eyebrows expectantly.

“I need to speak with you in private,” Vala said coldly, her eyes shooting daggers at the Lieutenant Colonel.

Sam furrowed her brow in confusion, clearly not expecting this. “Uh … okay,” she said uneasily, glancing around the room before she gestured to Vala to step further inside.

“I believe I said ‘in private’,” Vala snapped, fixing a seemingly interested Bill Lee with a glare. The other scientist regarded her curiously. “What, are you the official head grape today?!” her voice rose indignantly. “Get out!”

Dr. Lee’s eyes widened and he hastened up out of his chair, his hands raised in surrender. He quickly made his way out of the lab, stopping only to give the angry woman a curious glance. Once he was gone, Vala sighed and turned back to Sam. “Shut the door, won’t you?”

Sam felt stung by Vala’s caustic tone, but she obliged, thinking that, in some way, Vala was giving her a taste of her own medicine. Sam hadn’t been exactly kind to her when all this trouble started several months ago. As those thoughts crept into her head, she actually began to feel a little guilty.

Sam ducked her head and looked down at her hands. She realized that Vala was here and not going to budge until she said her piece. She sighed and lifted her gaze back up to the alien woman. “Look, if it’s about the way I was treating you, I apologize for that,” Sam began in a conciliatory tone. “I wasn’t in a very good mood and I took it out on you.” She winced inwardly. Was that the best she could say?

Vala felt some small bit of her anger beginning to ebb away as she regarded Sam incredulously. “Well, I-I did notice that you weren’t your usual happy self, but, no, this isn’t what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Sam gazed at her expectantly. “Then, what?”

Vala looked at Sam, appearing unsure of how to start. Her gaze then shifted to the floor for a moment and she released an explosive breath. “Last night, I ...” she started in an agitated tone. She abruptly stopped and sighed again. “I witnessed you and Daniel in his office,” she continued, her voice sounding stronger and more assured.

Sam blinked and a faint blush colored her cheeks. Why didn’t she like where this was going?

“I saw you two being quite intimate, even ‘hands-y’ with each other,” Vala spat out, the annoyance and jealousy strong in her tone.

Sam’s eyes widened and she frowned. “You saw us?” she nearly choked out. Vala’s silence told her all she wanted to know. Sam shook her head in disbelief. “And you came to talk to me because you have some kind of problem with that??” she added, her voice rising incredulously.

“You’re fortunate that I’m the only one who saw, and am the only one who knows. If I hadn’t shooed Mister Grapevine Busybody out of the room, it would be all around the base as the subject of some juicy gossip,” Vala said, avoiding the question.

Sam uttered a sound of disbelief. “You know, what Daniel and I do is really none of your business,” she said firmly.

“Maybe you should confine your behavior to somewhere more private, then.” Vala seemed to lose any grip she had left on rational thought as she took a few steps closer to Sam and stuck her index finger in the astrophysicist’s face. “You don’t understand what Daniel and I had together,” she said emotionally, “and you never will. It was something very special. He wanted me, Carter.”

Sam raised an eyebrow, surprised by Vala’s admission but also a bit insulted by the way she addressed her. “I don’t know what drove you to that conclusion, but you’re wrong. You’re mistaking Daniel’s patience and compassion for something much greater. You say that I don’t understand what you and Daniel had together, but you’re the one who doesn’t understand, Vala. Daniel and I have been friends for a very long time. We’ve both had feelings brewing for each other and we’ve only now become aware of just how strong they are. Actually, in a strange way, we have you to thank for that.”

“Oh, don’t give me that,” Vala cut in impatiently.

“It’s true. This time away from each other has given us an opportunity to sort out our feelings. We both came to an understanding and we talked about our relationship in the context of working for the SGC, especially working on the same team.” Her gaze hardening, Sam continued, “Speaking of which, Daniel told me something interesting: that you didn’t find me useful or ‘absolutely indispensable’ to SG-1. Who are you to say that?”

Vala shrugged. “Hey, you told Daniel yourself that you didn’t think you were useful. I was just backing you up, as it were,” she returned glibly.

Sam inwardly breathed a miserable sigh. Vala was right; Sam had asked for it when she complained to Daniel that she didn’t feel useful to the team any longer. However, she didn’t expect the alien woman to seize upon that notion and use it against her. At the moment, it seemed that Vala truly did believe this. “Yes, I admit that I didn’t feel very useful to SG-1 back then. Mitchell and Teal’c and Daniel tried to convince me to the contrary, and it made me realize that I did add something important. In fact, it’s led me to rejoin the team.”

Vala appeared momentarily surprised by this revelation. The expression on her face then revealed that something inside of her had died. Sam and Daniel were not only in a relationship, but Sam was rejoining the team as well. Vala’s argument had just been deflated. “All right, I suppose there’s no point in dragging this out for more than it’s worth,” she began painfully. “I am … jealous.” Her gaze immediately found the floor.

“What?” Sam exclaimed.

“I’m jealous of you and Daniel, all right?” Vala spat out at lightning speed. “I noticed how amiably Daniel chatted with you on the phone while you were gone. I noticed the rapport you had with him when you came back and joined us for the mission that led to my extended holiday at Club Ori. Even after I joined you all full-time, watching you work together or just plain interact I could sense something between you two … something that was no doubt missing between him and me.”

Sam’s expression became a bit sad, and she nearly felt like kicking herself all over again. Yes, it was true. She had gotten the wrong idea and had actually been jealous of Vala, when Vala had been jealous of her all along. She was almost beginning to pity the raven-haired woman, but she knew that her relationship with Daniel was something for which she didn’t need to apologize.

“So, you are going to rejoin the team?” Vala asked in a small voice.

Sam nodded. “Yes, I am,” she replied, her voice quiet but resolute.

Vala exhaled deeply. “Well, I’d say ‘welcome back,’ but … I obviously can’t stay on the team now.”

Sam’s forehead furrowed. “Why not?” She obviously knew that Mitchell was planning to boot Vala from the team, but she wasn’t about to tell Vala about it. She’d just make things worse.

“Oh, I … I just think it would be better that way,” Vala replied, attempting a smile. “No offense,” she added hastily.

Sam smiled awkwardly and shook her head. “Well, SG-13 has an opening now. There’s always SG-2 – Ferretti’s team. SG-17 might be looking for someone with intel on the Ori,” she supplied.

Vala shrugged. “I suppose. They wouldn’t measure up to the world famous SG-1, but I think I will manage.” She took another deep breath and briefly looked away. “Sam, I owe you an apology. I was acting like a stupid little child, being jealous of your relationship with Daniel. I said some very ridiculous things that I didn’t mean. I hope you can forgive me.” Her expression turned apologetic.

The hint of surprise left Sam’s eyes and she smiled faintly. “I think I can accept that. And I’m sorry for the way I treated you. To be honest, I was actually jealous of you.” Those last words made her blush.

Vala raised an eyebrow. “You’re joking.”

Sam shook her head, her blush deepening. “No. I actually had the wrong idea and thought that you and Daniel had become an ‘item,’ especially since I was seeing less and less of him.”

“Wow, I can’t say I expected that,” Vala told her, her expression turning thoughtful for a brief moment. “Although, I suppose one would get the idea from all the time I had been spending with him.” A hint of a sad smile formed on her face. “Speaking of which, I need to have a talk with him as well. I made him pretty angry last night. If there can’t be anything between us, the least I need to do is apologize.”

Sam nodded. “I think he would appreciate that.”

Vala barely nodded back when she caught sight of Bill Lee hesitantly edging close to the lab door. She rolled her eyes and gestured for him to enter. The other scientist looked at her tentatively and, upon receiving further unspoken reassurance, entered the room and made his way back to the workbench.

“Well, I’m off,” she said, turning back to Sam. She gestured toward the workbench and the now goggle-clad Dr. Lee and grinned. “Have fun.”

Sam gave a short chuckle as the dark-haired woman left the room. She then joined Dr. Lee and put her safety goggles back on. She was glad that she’d more or less resolved this whole predicament with Vala, and she hoped that the other woman’s talk with Daniel would achieve the same results.

Daniel sat at his desk, translating an Ancient artifact that had been brought back by SG-17. He’d been at it for a good forty-five minutes, and was so engrossed in the text that he didn’t realize someone had been watching him work for the past twenty or so of those minutes. A sudden throat-clearing sound alerted him to the visitor’s presence.

He finally looked up and his gaze flew over to the open doorway, where he witnessed Vala staring intently at him. “V-Vala,” he started in surprise. “Ah, w-what are you…”

“So, it’s true,” she stated somewhat cryptically.

Daniel’s brow knitted in confusion. “What’s true?” he asked curiously. The memory of his talk with Sam the night before suddenly struck him, and he realized he knew exactly what she was talking about. Lowering his head, he blushed faintly.

“I talked to Colonel Carter about everything. She told me about the depth of your relationship with her,” Vala said. Her voice seemed devoid of any jealousy or anger, and actually made her sound emotionally drained.

Daniel stared at her, still confused. “You won’t take Sam’s word for it?” he suddenly asked. “You need mine as well?”

Vala sighed. “Yes,” she said after a protracted silence. She did know all about it and she did want to take Sam’s word as complete truth, but she still felt like she needed some sort of confirmation from him.

“Well, it’s true,” Daniel said solemnly.

Vala looked away from him. Again, just as she had when she talked to Sam, she felt like something had died inside of her. For some reason, she still wasn’t ready to accept this admission completely and thought she’d try again. “What about all that time we spent together a year ago?” she tried almost desperately.

Daniel gazed at her, almost in disbelief. “Well, we didn’t have much choice, did we?” he told her, the sarcasm in his tone palpable. “I can’t believe you’re bringing this up as if it was a fond memory. Yes, we were connected, thanks to you. But it wasn’t a physical connection, it was a … no, let me rephrase that. We were connected on some level, but there was nothing romantic about it. D-do you even know what that was like to me?” his voice rose incredulously. “To be forced to remain in such close proximity to one another, or we’d die?”

Sighing, he stopped and raked a hand through his hair. His gaze flew back to her and, noticing the sincere agitation on her face, his expression softened. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone off on you like that. What’s done is done.”

Vala shrugged. “Well, look, I wasn’t exactly being responsible when I did that … not that I didn’t enjoy any of it,” she said impishly as she absent-mindedly played with a strand of her hair. She didn’t catch him wearily shaking his head. Her expression became serious one again as she looked him in the eyes. “I suppose there’s nothing I can do but accept your relationship with Colonel Carter. But, what about ‘us’?”

Daniel sighed. “Vala, no matter what you might have thought in the past, there is no ‘us’ – there never was and there never will be.”

Vala stared at him as if she wasn’t ready to believe it. “You’re putting me on.”

“No, I’m not,” Daniel replied, his tone a bit more firm. “I’ll admit you have been helpful to us against the Ori. You’re smart and, in your own way, caring …”

The alien woman’s eyes began to twinkle. “Flattery will get you nowhere, Doctor,” she said coyly.

“Vala, please! Let me finish,” Daniel exclaimed impatiently. She obliged and he continued, “You’re a smart, caring person. But we’ll never be more than friends. Sam and I have known each other a very long time. Our feelings for each other were always very deep and we’ve just begun to realize them now. I’m sorry.” His eyes were tinged with apology.

Vala looked at him for a long moment. The sincerity in Daniel’s eyes was unmistakable, and she knew that he was absolutely sure of what he was saying. He undoubtedly cared about Vala as a friend, but he cared about Sam as both a friend and a lover. There was nothing she could do to change that. The frustration in her gaze ebbed away and she gave a small nod.

Before anything else could be said, Colonel Mitchell appeared at the door and gave a small knock on the doorframe. Daniel and Vala turned, glancing at him curiously.

“Hey, I was wondering if we could have a minute,” Cam said, gesturing to Vala.

Daniel nodded. “Take all the time you need. We’ve sorted everything out.” He met Vala’s gaze and gave her a small smile.

Vala nodded. She slowly moved away from him and, just before she reached the door, turned back to Daniel. “Sam is a lucky woman,” she said, a sincere smile upon her face.

Daniel’s smile was a bit awkward and he ducked his head, blushing faintly. As Vala made her way up to Cam, the lieutenant colonel gave Daniel a reassuring smile before the two disappeared down the corridor.

Sighing, Daniel headed back to his desk. As he sat down, he felt as if he’d gotten a huge weight off his chest. Granted, he did feel a little sad about what had just transpired, especially when it seemed that Vala harbored such strong feelings for him. It did seem as though she finally accepted his relationship with Sam, though, and that was all he needed. He was now free to be with the woman he loved with all his heart and soul.

He succeeded at pushing any worrisome thoughts from his mind, and he resumed his translation of the Ancient inscriptions.

“That was absolutely delicious, Daniel,” Sam enthused as she cleaned her dinner plate.

Daniel smiled shyly and lowered his head. “Oh, come on. It was nothing,” he said humbly.

“Tsk. After nearly ten years, you haven’t changed a bit,” Sam teased affectionately, giving him a small wink.

Daniel held his hands up in surrender and chuckled. “Well, I’m glad you like it all the same.”

“I loved it,” she clarified. “How did you learn how to cook like this?”

“That’s a rhetorical question, right?” he asked lightly. She swatted him playfully across the chest. “Okay, okay, I’ll tell you. When I was a graduate student, I did some field work all around the Mediterranean. I befriended a fisherman and his family on the Turkish coast. His wife cooked some wonderful meals and she wasn’t shy about teaching me a few tricks.”

Sam raised an eyebrow curiously.

“Ah … culinary tricks, I mean,” Daniel elaborated, blushing deeply.

Sam snickered. “Well, I have to agree. If this is her recipe, she did cook some wonderful meals.”

“Ah, well, it’s her recipe with some modifications. Some of the spices were local delicacies only, so I substituted allspice for one of them. Plus, I thought that adding a little ginger would make it taste less bitter.”

Sam grinned. “You certainly have a knack for cooking.”

Daniel shrugged. “It’s one thing that you pick up when you’ve lived on your own.”

Sam nodded as she gathered up the dishes and proceeded to wash them in the sink. “You know,” she began over the running water, “we really should talk more about us.”

“Ah, Sam, we’ve talked about us all through dinner. I was glad for your little foray into my cooking. It provided a nice distraction,” he told her, his blue eyes twinkling.

Sam quickly turned and threw some soap suds in his face.

“Ah!” he exclaimed. He knocked them out of his hair and looked down at his hands. He then shook them in Sam’s direction, getting water in her face.

“That’s pathetic,” Sam retorted playfully. She took more suds and launched them at Daniel.

“I never thought I’d say this, but this means war,” he exclaimed as he picked up a spray bottle filled with water and squirted her with it.

Sam squealed as she tried to dodge Daniel’s fire. He chased her around the kitchen table and out into her living room, bottle held out in front of him as if it were a zat gun. He chuckled as he managed to squirt her several more times before she conceded defeat.

“Okay, okay, I give!” she said, holding her hands out in front of her.

They both shared a laugh as Daniel gathered her up into a slightly soggy embrace on her couch. He planted a wet kiss on her cheek that made her face light up.

“You’re lucky that this is only water,” she said impishly. “Or I’d be giving you hell right now for getting my couch ruined.”

Daniel looked down at the couch cushions, which had gotten a bit soggy as well. “Oops,” he said innocently. “In that case, I’m glad it’s only water. So, what were we talking about again?”

“Us,” Sam supplied helpfully.

“Ah, yes,” Daniel smiled. “I’m glad that Mitchell took it better than I thought he would, and that he allowed us both to stay on the team.”

“Mmm,” Sam replied, holding him close and running a hand through his hair. “I had a feeling he would, from what he told me before I went to talk to you. It meant a lot to him to have us remain on SG-1. He didn’t want the band to break apart, you know.”

Daniel nodded thoughtfully. “I was just thinking, continuing with the ‘band’ analogies, doesn’t Vala remind you a bit of Yoko Ono?”

Sam blinked and then started laughing. “That’s an interesting way of looking at it.”

Daniel smiled in satisfaction. “I should tell him that. I wonder what he’d think.” He suddenly became plagued by a hint of guilt. “I guess we shouldn’t make fun of her like this. I mean, she is useful as far as Ori intelligence goes.”

“There’s that,” Sam conceded. “She does seem happy on SG-2, though.”

Daniel nodded. “Ferretti seems to think she’s amusing. I’d imagine that he’s boring her to tears with his phony ‘good ol’ boy’ stories, though.” Noticing Sam chuckling softly, he smiled. “I guess she’s getting a taste of her own medicine, in a way. Better that than to have her keep flirting with me and interrupting me.”

Sam smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder. Daniel put his arm around her and sighed contentedly. They sat like that for several moments before Daniel straightened up, remembering something. “So, are you ready for dessert?”

“You mean you made dessert too?”

“Ah, well … no … but I picked something up from a Mediterranean bakery on the way over,” he said, blushing faintly.

Sam smiled expectantly as Daniel disappeared briefly into the kitchen. He returned with an open box and two plates, onto which he shoveled some sweet Baklava.

“Have you decided on a movie for us to watch?” he asked, handing a plate to her.

Sam nodded. “The Mummy 2,” she smiled, gesturing to a DVD on the edge of her coffee table.

Daniel smiled and loaded it into Sam’s player as she tasted the dessert. Once again, Daniel had done well; it was absolutely delicious.

Once they’d finished eating, they sat back on the couch, cradled in each other’s arms as the movie played. Every so often, Sam glanced up at Daniel and smiled happily. When she was least expecting it, Daniel would gaze down at her, a fond smile tugging at his lips. At some point, near the end of the film, their eyes met and their lips joined in a passionate, nearly unending, kiss. Yes, this had actually been a change for the better. It might not have seemed like it at first, but it forced the two of them to realize the depths of their feelings for one another. It also forced them to stop acting as if they had to repress those feelings any longer. They could finally be truly happy and love each other completely.

And, they were.

THE END

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