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stargatexingTitle: Truths Universally Acknowledged
Author: Jedi Buttercup
Disclaimer: The words are mine; the world is not.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: SG-1/P&P. Vala can't sleep, and Daniel tells her a story. 1200 words.
Spoilers: Stargate SG-1 through 10.8, "Memento Mori"; Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice"
Notes: This was written for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
maevebran, who asked for a Daniel/Vala fic, continuing from the shortfic Lively Personalities.
"Tell me a story," Vala said plaintively, pulling her feet up onto the chair with her and wrapping her arms around them.
She looked forlorn and vulnerable sitting there like that, with her feet bare and her dark hair flowing loose around her shoulders. The instinctive frustration that Daniel had felt at the sight of her flouncing into his office evaporated as he studied her exhausted, troubled expression; he knew that look from his own mirror, and it wasn't very difficult to guess what had been disturbing her rest.
"Couldn't sleep?" he asked, placing a bookmark in the text he'd been studying for later reference. He doubted he was going to get much further with it tonight.
Vala shook her head. "No," she said, studying him with dark, pensive eyes. She paused for a moment, worrying at the hem of her trousers with nervous fingertips, then sighed and spoke again. "How did you do it, Daniel?"
"Do what?" he asked, gently.
"Deal with all this..." She waved a hand in the air around her head for emphasis as she searched for an appropriate descriptor. "Amnesia nonsense."
"Which part?" he asked ruefully, remembering his initial encounter with SG-1 after returning from his first Ascension and the confusing weeks that had followed. "Not being able to remember your own name? Or-- remembering your name, but having no idea what else might still be missing?"
Vala snorted. "The latter," she said, bitterly. "Not knowing who I was was uncomfortable for me, but I had instinct to fall back on, and a very kind man who gave me a job and a place to stay while I figured out what to do with myself." She gave him a meaningful, wry glance at that. "A state of affairs which has become increasingly commonplace for me of late, it seems. But the worst part was when my memories started to return. I had no idea from one moment to the next what to believe; most of them weren't comforting in the least. And now-- I feel as though it's all there, but I keep waking up from dreams of things I don't remember doing, and not all of them are from my time with Qetesh. Was it like that for you as well?"
Daniel grimaced sympathetically. At least she was being given the chance to rest while everything settled in her mind; Dr. Lam was keeping her off duty until she was sure Vala was ready to go off-world again. Daniel, on the other hand, had been thrust right back into the fight against Anubis, remembering sometimes literally on the fly how to fill the shoes of the linguist, archaeologist, and soldier he'd been before. "You have no idea," he said, dryly.
"How did you do it?" she asked again, wrapping her arms more tightly around herself as she rested her chin on her knees. "How long did it take before you knew you'd remembered everything?"
"I still don't know that for sure," he said. "I still, to this day, find references in my journals to events that I don't remember happening until after I read about them. The thing is--" He stood up as she looked away, a despairing expression on her face, and scooted his stool closer to her chair.
"The thing is," he said again, earnestly, capturing her gaze with an intent expression when she looked back to track his movement, "I don't really think it matters at this point. I'm still Daniel Jackson, regardless of whether I can remember the names of all my foster parents or the gate addresses of every planet I've ever been to. Knowledge can lead you to different places, but it can't change who you fundamentally are." Even in Shifu's dream, all that the knowledge of the Goa'uld had done was to exploit and enhance the darker side of his own character.
"You really think so?" Vala said softly, hopefully, unshed tears shimmering in her blue eyes.
"I know so," Daniel said, firmly.
She took in a deep breath, then let it out in a teary laugh. "I don't know whether to be relieved or disappointed," she declared, in a teasing tone of voice. "This could have been my great chance to shed my reprehensible past and become an upright and responsible member of Tau'ri society."
Daniel chuckled. "Don't tell anyone I told you this," he replied, "but I think the General's already convinced of that. You should be getting your official SGC patches as soon as you're cleared for active duty."
"Really?" Vala's eyes lit up at the assurance, and she unfolded a little, wriggling her toes on the edge of the chair. "Well, that's good to hear. I was starting to wonder what I'd have to do to be worthy."
"Just be yourself," he said, smiling.
She smiled back, and for a long moment, the silence lay comfortably between them.
"So," she finally said, brightly. "Not that this wasn't an enlightening conversation-- but that wasn't the reason I came here."
Daniel blinked for a moment, rewinding the conversation in his head. "Tell you a story?" he asked, mildly amused. "A story about what?"
She scrunched up her face a little, considering. "Hmmm. How about that ancestress of yours that you were telling me about the other day? The one you said I would have liked. I bet she never had to deal with this sort of thing-- unscrupulous former acquaintances returning to ruin her life."
"You'd be surprised," Daniel said, bemused, remembering the story of Fitzwilliam Darcy's childhood friend and the havoc he'd caused among the Darcys and Bennets as an adult. Wickham's seduction of Elizabeth's youngest sister had interrupted and very nearly derailed the tentative reacquaintance of Daniel's ancestress and her suitor.
"Really," Vala said, interestedly. "Do tell."
"Well," Daniel said, "to tell the story properly, I'd really have to start several months before that, when Elizabeth Bennet first met Fitzwilliam Darcy--" he paused as his stomach interrupted with a rumble, reminding him how long it had been since he'd last eaten, "--so how about I tell it to you over coffee and pie?"
She looked pleased at that suggestion, then narrowed her eyes as she considered it a little more. "You're not trying to use this as an excuse not to take me back to that restaurant, are you?" she asked.
"No," he said, wryly. "Don't worry, I made a new reservation for this Thursday." He hadn't intended to tell her yet-- he wasn't looking forward to a renewal of the argument over whether or not their meal out could be counted as a 'date'-- but he didn't think it prudent to let her extend the argument to meals on base as well, or he'd never get any peace.
"Good," she said, brightly, then hopped up from the chair and skipped out of the room.
Several minutes later, coffee and pie procured, Daniel wrapped his hands around his warm mug and leaned back in his chair.
"The story starts, the way I've always heard it, like this: 'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife'..."
-x-
(x-posted tojedibuttercup & ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
daniel_vala)
~
Author: Jedi Buttercup
Disclaimer: The words are mine; the world is not.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: SG-1/P&P. Vala can't sleep, and Daniel tells her a story. 1200 words.
Spoilers: Stargate SG-1 through 10.8, "Memento Mori"; Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice"
Notes: This was written for
maevebran, who asked for a Daniel/Vala fic, continuing from the shortfic Lively Personalities."Tell me a story," Vala said plaintively, pulling her feet up onto the chair with her and wrapping her arms around them.
She looked forlorn and vulnerable sitting there like that, with her feet bare and her dark hair flowing loose around her shoulders. The instinctive frustration that Daniel had felt at the sight of her flouncing into his office evaporated as he studied her exhausted, troubled expression; he knew that look from his own mirror, and it wasn't very difficult to guess what had been disturbing her rest.
"Couldn't sleep?" he asked, placing a bookmark in the text he'd been studying for later reference. He doubted he was going to get much further with it tonight.
Vala shook her head. "No," she said, studying him with dark, pensive eyes. She paused for a moment, worrying at the hem of her trousers with nervous fingertips, then sighed and spoke again. "How did you do it, Daniel?"
"Do what?" he asked, gently.
"Deal with all this..." She waved a hand in the air around her head for emphasis as she searched for an appropriate descriptor. "Amnesia nonsense."
"Which part?" he asked ruefully, remembering his initial encounter with SG-1 after returning from his first Ascension and the confusing weeks that had followed. "Not being able to remember your own name? Or-- remembering your name, but having no idea what else might still be missing?"
Vala snorted. "The latter," she said, bitterly. "Not knowing who I was was uncomfortable for me, but I had instinct to fall back on, and a very kind man who gave me a job and a place to stay while I figured out what to do with myself." She gave him a meaningful, wry glance at that. "A state of affairs which has become increasingly commonplace for me of late, it seems. But the worst part was when my memories started to return. I had no idea from one moment to the next what to believe; most of them weren't comforting in the least. And now-- I feel as though it's all there, but I keep waking up from dreams of things I don't remember doing, and not all of them are from my time with Qetesh. Was it like that for you as well?"
Daniel grimaced sympathetically. At least she was being given the chance to rest while everything settled in her mind; Dr. Lam was keeping her off duty until she was sure Vala was ready to go off-world again. Daniel, on the other hand, had been thrust right back into the fight against Anubis, remembering sometimes literally on the fly how to fill the shoes of the linguist, archaeologist, and soldier he'd been before. "You have no idea," he said, dryly.
"How did you do it?" she asked again, wrapping her arms more tightly around herself as she rested her chin on her knees. "How long did it take before you knew you'd remembered everything?"
"I still don't know that for sure," he said. "I still, to this day, find references in my journals to events that I don't remember happening until after I read about them. The thing is--" He stood up as she looked away, a despairing expression on her face, and scooted his stool closer to her chair.
"The thing is," he said again, earnestly, capturing her gaze with an intent expression when she looked back to track his movement, "I don't really think it matters at this point. I'm still Daniel Jackson, regardless of whether I can remember the names of all my foster parents or the gate addresses of every planet I've ever been to. Knowledge can lead you to different places, but it can't change who you fundamentally are." Even in Shifu's dream, all that the knowledge of the Goa'uld had done was to exploit and enhance the darker side of his own character.
"You really think so?" Vala said softly, hopefully, unshed tears shimmering in her blue eyes.
"I know so," Daniel said, firmly.
She took in a deep breath, then let it out in a teary laugh. "I don't know whether to be relieved or disappointed," she declared, in a teasing tone of voice. "This could have been my great chance to shed my reprehensible past and become an upright and responsible member of Tau'ri society."
Daniel chuckled. "Don't tell anyone I told you this," he replied, "but I think the General's already convinced of that. You should be getting your official SGC patches as soon as you're cleared for active duty."
"Really?" Vala's eyes lit up at the assurance, and she unfolded a little, wriggling her toes on the edge of the chair. "Well, that's good to hear. I was starting to wonder what I'd have to do to be worthy."
"Just be yourself," he said, smiling.
She smiled back, and for a long moment, the silence lay comfortably between them.
"So," she finally said, brightly. "Not that this wasn't an enlightening conversation-- but that wasn't the reason I came here."
Daniel blinked for a moment, rewinding the conversation in his head. "Tell you a story?" he asked, mildly amused. "A story about what?"
She scrunched up her face a little, considering. "Hmmm. How about that ancestress of yours that you were telling me about the other day? The one you said I would have liked. I bet she never had to deal with this sort of thing-- unscrupulous former acquaintances returning to ruin her life."
"You'd be surprised," Daniel said, bemused, remembering the story of Fitzwilliam Darcy's childhood friend and the havoc he'd caused among the Darcys and Bennets as an adult. Wickham's seduction of Elizabeth's youngest sister had interrupted and very nearly derailed the tentative reacquaintance of Daniel's ancestress and her suitor.
"Really," Vala said, interestedly. "Do tell."
"Well," Daniel said, "to tell the story properly, I'd really have to start several months before that, when Elizabeth Bennet first met Fitzwilliam Darcy--" he paused as his stomach interrupted with a rumble, reminding him how long it had been since he'd last eaten, "--so how about I tell it to you over coffee and pie?"
She looked pleased at that suggestion, then narrowed her eyes as she considered it a little more. "You're not trying to use this as an excuse not to take me back to that restaurant, are you?" she asked.
"No," he said, wryly. "Don't worry, I made a new reservation for this Thursday." He hadn't intended to tell her yet-- he wasn't looking forward to a renewal of the argument over whether or not their meal out could be counted as a 'date'-- but he didn't think it prudent to let her extend the argument to meals on base as well, or he'd never get any peace.
"Good," she said, brightly, then hopped up from the chair and skipped out of the room.
Several minutes later, coffee and pie procured, Daniel wrapped his hands around his warm mug and leaned back in his chair.
"The story starts, the way I've always heard it, like this: 'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife'..."
-x-
(x-posted to
jedibuttercup & daniel_vala)~
