CHAPTER EIGHT
Daniel stared with single-minded purpose at the floor of the gate room. The reason for the gaze was not that there was something of great interest there. Actually, it looked like it was in need of a good mopping. No, the reason was that doing so was the only thing preventing him from gazing at Sam in a way that would tell everyone in the gate room exactly what he was thinking.
Ever since their date Friday night and the incredible kiss they shared, Daniel had been flying high. Sam's response to the kiss definitely seemed to indicate that she had enjoyed it. She certainly didn't pull away. That was a very good sign, one that made him hope that what he had wanted for so long might actually be within his reach.
Several times on Saturday, he'd come close to calling Sam and asking if she wanted to get together, but he had decided that it might be wise to let her make the next move. When she didn't call, he did not let it bother him. In fact, all that day, he let himself imagine for the first time a life with her. He could so easily picture them having kids, growing old together. It was something he had wanted with Sha're. Now, he might be given the chance to have it with another woman.
Unfortunately, all his thoughts and feelings weren't even close to being that G-rated, which was playing havoc with his ability to concentrate on what he should be thinking about, namely, the mission upon which they were about to embark. He really, really needed to get those things out of his head and focus on that.
Unbeknownst to Daniel, Sam was dealing with a struggle of her own as they waited for the gate to connect. Despite all the doubts she was suffering, the moment she saw Daniel this morning, she had wanted to kiss him again. In fact, the desire to do so was so strong that she'd had a hard time concentrating on the pre-mission briefing. Now, as they stood their waiting, it was taking a great deal of effort to act casually. The only way she could accomplish it was to keep her eyes off Daniel. This really was ridiculous. She needed to get a grip and put a lid on her desires.
Both Sam and Daniel would have been quite shocked to learn that they were not the only two people in the room dealing with thoughts and emotions inappropriate for the time and location.
Despite Cam's determination not to let what happened between him and Vala affect him this morning, he was finding himself hyper-aware of her presence and was also reacting by not looking at her.
'Dammit!' he silently yelled at himself. 'It was just one dang kiss! Get it out of your head and do your job!'
Vala, on the other hand, was making no effort at all not to think about the kiss. In fact, she had replayed it several times in her mind since it happened. She was now trying to figure out how she could manage to get another one. It wouldn't be easy since she could tell that Cameron was feeling uncomfortable about what happened, but she was up to the challenge.
As all this was going on, the fifth member of SG-1 watched his teammates closely, curious about their behavior. It was quite obvious that some things had occurred, specifically between Daniel Jackson and Colonel Carter and between Colonel Mitchell and Vala Mal Doran. Teal'c did have his suspicions about what might have happened to cause his teammates to act the way they were. Time would tell if he was correct.
The attention of all five of them was drawn from their thoughts when the Stargate burst to life. With Cam and Teal'c in the lead, SG-1 walked through the event horizon. They came out the other side into a meadow surrounded by trees. Straight ahead were the ruins of what must have been a small city hundreds of years ago. Both the MALP and the UAV had detected a faint energy reading coming from somewhere in the crumbling structures. The UAV had spotted no signs of inhabitants other than animals. Of course, that didn't mean that there were none. Someone could be hiding inside some building. The UAV's infrared scanners would be unable to see through stone.
"So, shall we go see if we can find the source of that energy reading?" Cam asked. Not waiting for an answer, he strode forward, the others following.
Sam drew abreast of Cameron, her eyes on the scanner in her hand.
"Can you tell what part of the ruins it's coming from?" he asked her.
The astrophysicist swung the scanner back and forth, watching the readout change. "It looks like it's straight ahead."
They entered the ruins and, guided by Sam's scanner, went to a location that was close to the center of the ancient city. Cautiously, they entered the building, whose roof was mostly gone.
"This looks like it was a temple," Daniel stated, looking around. "It also looks like some pretty angry people were in here."
The remark was made in response to the sight of statuary and pottery smashed to bits. Not a single item in the temple was intact. Some of the damage could be attributed to the weather, but not all of it.
"Perhaps the inhabitants rebelled against their Goa'uld master," Teal'c said.
They found an antechamber off the main room and stopped to stare at what they'd found.
"Oh, I'm thinking that the rebellion theory is lookin' pretty good," Cam remarked.
Before them on the floor was what used to be a ring platform. It appeared to have been dug out of the stone with something like a pickax, then smashed repeatedly.
Sam ran her scanner over it. "This is the source of the energy reading. The power source must have remained at least partially intact and is still operating."
"Teal'c, do you have any idea what Goa'uld may have controlled this planet a few hundred years ago?" Daniel asked.
"I do not. Control of this territory has changed many times over the centuries."
Daniel frowned. "I'd really like to find out who it was."
Cam looked at him. "Why am I getting the feeling that we're going to be staying a while?"
"I'd like to take a look around, too," Sam said. "It's possible that some technology left behind was spared from destruction."
"All right. We'll split up to cover more territory. Teal'c, you go with Vala and Jackson, and I'll tag along with Sam. Radio check in thirty minutes."
The two groups went off in opposite directions, Daniel, Teal'c and Vala heading north as Sam and Cameron went south. Vala glanced at Daniel several times as they walked. He had been very quiet in the gate room and seemed to be doing a lot of thinking. She was dying to know how his third date with Sam had gone.
About forty minutes into the search for the name of the Goa'uld who had controlled this planet, they found the remains of a structure that Teal'c identified as the barracks for the Jaffa.
"There might be some small idols or other objects of worship in there," Daniel said. "The place is pretty big. The search would go a lot faster if we split up. There's no roof left, so it'll be safe for each of us to search alone."
The three members of SG-1 split up. Daniel headed off to the right and began examining the rooms, or, rather, what was left of them. Many of the dividing walls were half-gone, the stones that were once part of them scattered about. He found quite a few shards of pottery and other artifacts, which led him to believe that the Jaffa had departed in a hurry . . . or perhaps all been killed.
He'd been at it for around forty minutes when he found a vase that was mostly intact, buried beneath the remains of other pottery. The artwork on it depicted a man and woman holding each other. The image made Daniel's thoughts yet again go back to Friday night and the hope that had been steadily growing within him. His cautious side was telling him that he shouldn't get his hopes up too high, but it did no good. For the first time in four long years he had a real reason to believe that his heart's desire might soon be fulfilled. For the first time in over ten years, there was something in his life that was making him truly happy. He wanted to cling to those things with both hands and not let go.
Daniel was unaware that, at that moment, he had an audience. Vala had gotten bored and decided to go looking for Daniel. When she came around a wall and spied the archeologist, she froze in surprise. Daniel was holding a vase, but his gaze was not upon it. Instead, he appeared to be looking off at nothing. That really wasn't all that unusual. No, what surprised Vala was the smile of happiness on his face. In all the time she'd known him, she had never seen a smile like that. It was transforming his features, making him look years younger. Vala guessed right off what he was thinking about.
"So, I'm guessing that the third date went extremely well," she commented, startling Daniel. As he turned to her, a calm, cool expression fell across his face.
"You can't possibly be done searching your section of the building," he said, "so I'm guessing that you got bored." He took some sheets of tissue paper out of one of his pockets and carefully wrapped the vase in them. He always had several sheets of tissue paper with him on missions in case he found an artifact that he wanted to bring back.
Vala watched him for a few seconds. "Are you going to answer my question?"
"What question is that? I didn't hear you ask one."
The dark-haired woman drew closer to him. "Was that smile I saw on your face because of your third date?"
Daniel hesitated before replying. "Yes."
"Did you and Samantha have sex?"
Daniel rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation. "Vala, why do you think that just because I'm smiling about the date, it must mean that Sam and I had sex?"
"Because smiles like that are usually on the faces of men who have recently gotten laid."
Daniel closed his eyes, his head shaking slightly as he struggled for patience. "No, Vala. Sam and I did not have sex." He held up his finger when she opened her mouth to speak. "No more questions. What Sam and I do on our dates is none of your business." He walked past her. "If you're not going to do any more looking, then you might as well go wait for me and Teal'c."
Pouting over Daniel's refusal to give her any juicy details about the date, Vala made her way out of the structure. She sat down on a piece of wall and rested her chin on her hand. She got to thinking about that smile, how very happy Daniel looked. Would she see a similar smile on Samantha's face? Vala was still afraid that Daniel was going to get hurt, that, one of these days, the woman he loved would tell him that she could never love him back.
Making a sudden decision, Vala got to her feet and headed south. Tracking the signals from Sam's and Cameron's subcutaneous implants, she went straight to their location. As she drew near, she saw that they were not together. She chose the signal to the east and soon spotted Cam. Knowing that the other signal must be from Sam's implant, the former Goa'uld host turned around and went toward it. She found Sam crouched on the ground, examining something.
The astrophysicist frowned upon seeing her and stood up. "Vala, what—"
"Are you going to break his heart?" Vala interrupted bluntly.
Perplexed, Sam stared at her. "Excuse me?"
"Daniel. Are you falling in love with him or are you going to tell him that it was all a mistake?"
Sam frowned angrily. "I fail to see how that is any of you bus—"
"It is my business," Vala interrupted. "Daniel is my friend, maybe one of the only real friends I have ever had, and I don't want to see him get hurt. Do you know what happened the night before you went off on your trip with General O'Neill?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. Daniel told me that he had a little too much to drink."
Vala snorted. "He had a great deal more than a little too much. He was on the verge of unconsciousness when I got there. I found him sitting on the floor of his living room with empty beer bottles all over the table and a bottle of tequila in his hand."
Sam's chest began to ache, her throat tightening.
Vala continued. "He told me to go away, but I didn't. And then he cried in my arms." Okay, so maybe that last statement was a slight exaggeration, but it got the desired effect. Tears filled Sam's eyes, along with an expression of anguish.
"He loves you very much, Samantha, and, though I will deny it if you tell anyone I said this, I would consider myself a very lucky woman if it was me he loved like that."
Sam turned away as a single tear broke free. She quickly swiped it away.
Vala continued. "I was just with him, and he looked so happy. I have never seen him like that before. So, if you're going to tell him that you cannot be his, you have to do it now."
Sam thought about her doubts, fears and concerns. She now put those things aside and turned back around.
"I'm not going to do that, Vala," she declared firmly.
The dark-haired woman stared at her intently. "Then you are in love with him."
"No. I-I mean I am feeling things for him, pretty, um . . . powerful things."
Vala's gaze grew even more penetrating. She trusted that Daniel hadn't lied about the sex. However. . . . "You've kissed," she guessed, "and it was a very good kiss."
Sam's cheeks grew hot. "Yes, we kissed, and, yes, it did feel very good." God, she couldn't believe that she was actually talking about this with Vala of all people.
The other woman had begun to smile. "And you are very much looking forward to the next kiss. You are very much looking forward to more than a kiss."
Sam was saved from further replies – and further embarrassment – by the sound of Cameron calling her name. She quickly escaped Vala's presence. The former host of Qetesh watched Sam leave. She was quite certain now that Samantha was falling in love with Daniel. The woman was just failing to see it. She doubted that Sam would remain blind to it for long.
"Vala, where are you?" asked Daniel's voice over the radio.
The woman pushed the mic button on her radio. "I got tired of waiting for you and decided to join Cameron and Samantha."
"Well, next time, could you please tell someone that you're going to do that?"
Another voice came on the radio. "Jackson, this is Mitchell. I need you and Teal'c at our location. I've found something you'll want to see."
When Daniel and Teal'c joined their teammates, they found the others gathered around something on the ground. The archeologist was surprised when he saw what it was.
"It's a coverstone."
"Yeah, that's what I thought it was," Cam responded. "I saw the one that was covering Earth's Stargate."
"Well this one is way too small to be covering a gate. Besides, there would be no reason to have two gates here." Daniel eyes began scanning the writing. "This is a derivative of Old Coptic, which was created after the Greeks conquered Egypt."
"What does it say?" Vala asked.
Haltingly, Daniel began to read. "'Here lies the evil god Sebek. May he suffer for all eternity in the darkest depths of Tartarus.' That's interesting. Tartarus is from Greek and Roman mythology, but Sebek is an Egyptian god."
"So, I guess this answers the question of which Goa'uld ruled this place," Cam said.
Sam studied the coverstone. "The people must have killed him, then put this over the grave."
Daniel nodded. "Probably to make sure he couldn't rise from the dead and seek revenge."
Cameron glanced about the ruins. "I'm thinking that we're not gonna find any Goa'uld technology here that's still all in one piece. The people who did this were pretty pissed off."
"Colonel Mitchell is most likely correct," Teal'c stated. "The inhabitants of this city would have destroyed all things belonging to Sebek and his Jaffa."
"I'm surprised that they didn't bury the gate," Daniel said.
"Maybe they used it to leave the planet after the revolt," Sam suggested.
The team headed back to the Stargate. Upon returning to Earth, they went through the usual post-mission exam, then took care of the debriefing. Afterwards, Daniel went to his office. He unwrapped the vase and began studying it in more detail, seeing a mixture of Egyptian and Greek in the style of the artwork.
Sam came in and saw what he held in his hands. "That's beautiful."
Daniel nodded. "It's the only thing I found that was still mostly intact." He set the vase on the desk. "I think you might be right about the people leaving the planet after the rebellion. The only signs of artifacts I found were in the temple and the Jaffa barracks. Several of the structures I looked through appeared to be dwellings, yet they were stripped bare. The next time we see the Tok'ra, I might ask if they know what happened."
"Good idea. It's almost lunchtime. I was wondering if you'd like to join me."
Daniel smiled. "I'd love to."
After getting their lunch, Daniel and Sam found an empty table against the wall. They'd been eating for around two minutes when Sam said, "The Daedalus must be well on its way back to the Pegasus Galaxy by now."
"Yeah. This is the second time I've failed to catch my ride to Atlantis, except that, this time, it was voluntary."
"Any regrets?"
"No," Daniel instantly replied. "That's not to say that I'm not at all sorry that I've missed another opportunity to go there. I would still like the chance to spend some time there." His eyes gazed into Sam's. "But, right now, I'm a lot more interested in what's right here."
Sam smiled at the comment. All day Saturday, she was stressing out over her worries that what she was feeling for Daniel wasn't real. She pretty much thought the thing to death. She knew that she was thinking too much, but she was unable to stop herself. But, now, sitting here with Daniel, she felt relaxed, happy, and eager to see what their next date would bring.
"I'm very interested, too," she told him.
Daniel's eyes lit with a smile. "You are?"
"Yeah."
"That's great to hear."
Just then, Cameron and Vala came walking in. They appeared to be in the midst of a lively conversation. The two scientists managed to hear part of it and realized that it was about football.
The brown-haired man and black-haired woman kept right on talking all the way through the line, then took their trays to a table. Daniel and Sam had to wonder if they had even noticed that two of their teammates were in the room.
"They sure do seem to be getting along well," Sam remarked.
"Yes, I noticed that. But then, I don't think that Vala ever drove Mitchell as crazy as she drove me."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that. Cam told me a little about the time they spent at the high school reunion before Ventrell showed up. He was reunited with a woman named Amy that he had a thing for in school, and, based upon what he said, he pretty much ignored Vala after that. Just before they left, he was talking with Amy, and Vala was in a hurry to leave. She was yelling at him to hurry and honking the horn, and on the entire trip to the airport, she was a real pain in the butt. Cam said that he felt like strangling her. Personally, I think her ego was bruised because he was more interested in another woman."
"Could be. He should count himself lucky, though, that that's the only time he felt like killing her. I sometimes had thoughts of homicide two or three times a day, especially when Vala and I were linked by those bracelets."
Sam grinned. "I guess it's a good thing you have a lot of self-control."
"Yeah. Of course, there was also the fact that, if I'd killed her when we were linked, I'd have died, too."
"Yes, that would have been a big drawback."
The two friends resumed eating, and the conversation turned to the upcoming mission to Hedavin. It was a diplomatic mission to forge a trade agreement with the native people. Normally, SG-9 would have been the one to do it since they specialized in negotiations, but Daniel had developed a rapport with the Chief Councilor, and the man made it clear that he would prefer that the archeologist do the negotiating. The mission was expected to last two or three days, depending on how long it would take to reach an agreement. They would be remaining there on the planet since it would make no sense going back and forth through the Stargate every day.
Daniel wanted to ask Sam about the plans for their next date, which, of course, would have to wait until after the mission, but he figured that it would be best to discuss it when they were alone. Besides, it might be best to wait. He didn't want to seem too pushy.
Finishing their meal, Sam and Daniel took their trash to the garbage can, then parted company, Daniel going back to his office. As he sat down, his eyes went to the photograph of his wife. He picked it up and held it before him.
"Am I fooling myself into thinking that this could really happen, Sha're?" he asked softly. "Do I want it so badly that I'm placing too much hope on what happened Friday night?"
Setting the photo back down, Daniel turned his attention to work, a difficult translation that had defied the efforts of all the other linguists on base. Though he already had a huge pile of other work to do, he had agreed to take a look at it.
By 7:30, Daniel had made some headway, but he could tell that it would take many more hours to complete the translation. He decided to quit for the night and start fresh in the morning.
He was leaving his office when he spied Vala down the corridor. There was a smile on her face that made his eyes narrow. It was a smile he'd seen before, that of Vala Mal Doran scheming about something. It was not a smile that gave him peace of mind.
"Vala," he called. She saw him and came over. "I want to talk to you about something."
"About what?" the woman asked.
"Let's go into my office."
Once they were in the room, Daniel wasted no time in confronting her. "Okay, so what are you planning?"
Vala frowned in puzzlement. "What makes you think I have any plans?"
"Because I recognized that smile you had on your face. The last time I saw it was on P5G-102, when you planned to seduce the guy who owned that. . . ." A thought suddenly popped into Daniel's head. "I saw you and Mitchell chatting it up at lunch today. You were talking about football."
"Oh, that? He and I watched a game together at his place on Saturday. It was very enjoyable."
"You went to Mitchell's house to watch a football game? Why the sudden interest?"
"I have always enjoyed sports, Daniel. How many times have Teal'c and I beaten you and Cameron at basketball?"
Something about Vala's statement rang false. She had a television in her room, so she could have watched a football game at any time, yet she had never said one word about doing so.
"Vala, what are you up to?"
"Nothing."
"I don't believe you. This has something to do with Mitchell, doesn't it."
Vala began wandering around the room, pretending to study things. "I'm sure I do not know what you are talking about."
Daniel knew what was going on. Realizing that she would never get him into bed, Vala had turned her attention to Mitchell. So, what was Daniel going to do about it? Mitchell was perfectly capable of taking care of himself and rebuffing the woman's advances. On the other hand, Daniel did consider the man to be a friend, so it wouldn't be right to just stand back and say nothing.
"Why are you doing this, Vala?" he asked bluntly. "Why Mitchell? Is it because you've given up on getting me? If that's all there is to it, then I would advise that you stop right now."
Vala wanted to claim innocence, but it was clear that Daniel wouldn't believe her.
"I do admit that I find Cameron quite attractive," she said, "and I have very much enjoyed the time we have spent together recently. The football game was very exciting. Our team won."
"And?"
"And . . . if I believed that Cameron might be open to the idea, I would not hesitate to do something to expand our relationship beyond friendship."
"Seduce him, you mean."
"You make it sound so distasteful."
"Vala, you tried more than once with me, and I didn't appreciate it. Do you honestly believe that Mitchell will feel differently?"
Vala began drawing patterns on the desktop with her fingertip, her eyes watching its progress. "He might."
Daniel stared at her closely. "All right, Vala. Mitchell's a grown man and can fight his own battles, but, to be fair to him, you need to decide if you're doing this only because I'm no longer a possibility or if you really want to have a relationship with him."
That having been said, he walked out of the office. Vala just stood there, feeling like she needed to go after him and say something but not knowing what.
As much as she didn't want them to, Daniel's words were making her reexamine her intentions toward Cam. Was she going after him only because she couldn't have Daniel or did she really want to have something with him? Back when she learned that Daniel was in love with Sam, she decided that she would not want to be his second choice, the woman he turned to only because he couldn't have the one he really wanted. If she was doing the same thing with Cameron, that would make her a hypocrite. Three years ago, she wouldn't have cared. She would have done it anyway. But that was before she met a man named Daniel Jackson, whose strong sense of integrity was something that she had come to respect and, more than once, had caused her to make choices that the old Vala would never have made. If she ignored what he'd said and pursued Cameron regardless of the reason, would she be able to look in Daniel's eyes and feel good about herself?
Vala felt like stomping her foot. Drat! Why did he have to be such a Boy Scout?! Or was it Cub Scout? Regardless of which one it was, he was ruining all her fun.
Vala left the office and continued toward her original destination. She had been chatting with one of the female scientists when the woman happened to mention that Cam was working out in the base gym. When Daniel called her aside, Vala had been on her way there with the intention of 'putting the moves' on him. Now, she wasn't sure what she was going to do.
As she entered the gym, Vala saw Cam jogging on one of the treadmills. He was wearing jogging shorts and an athletic tee. She came to a stop and just watched him, the fluid motion of his body, the sheen of perspiration on his skin. She found herself imagining that body stripped of all clothing and lying next to hers. Her temperature began to rise, and her heart beat a little faster.
All at once, Vala realized that she really did want that with Cameron, and not just because she would never have it with Daniel. Oh, it may have started out that way, but it wasn't the case anymore. So, what had changed things? Was it the kiss? The football game? The lunch she and Cameron shared? Vala didn't know. She just knew that she wanted him, and it had nothing to do with Daniel.
So, if that was the case, then she was perfectly free to pursue him, right? Right.
Growing a smile, Vala crossed the room to him.
"Here for some more eye candy?" he asked, not breaking stride.
"No, I'm here to see you."
He looked at her sharply. "About what?"
"About what happened Saturday night."
Now, that did make Cam's steps falter. He recovered quickly, though, and stared straight ahead. "We need to just forget about that," he said.
"Why?"
"Because it shouldn't have happened."
"Why? Because we are on the same team? You don't have a problem with what is happening between Daniel and Samantha."
"That's different."
"Why?"
"It just is!" Seeing that his shout had caused some of the others in the room to turn toward them, Cam then said, "This is not the place for this discussion."
"Yes, you are right. We should have it when we are alone together."
Refusing to think about what Vala was quite clearly implying with that statement, Cam all but growled out, "Just . . . go do something, Vala. Hey, here's an idea. You're here in the gym. Why don't you do some arm curls or something, burn off some of that excess energy? The rack of dumbbells is over there." He jerked at it with his head.
Vala gave him a sultry smile. "There are other things I would much rather do to burn off excess energy, Cameron."
'Good God,' Cam said inside his mind. Was this what Daniel had to put up with for all that time?
Choosing to just ignore her, Cam resolutely focused his gaze upon a spot on the wall in front of him. Seeing that he wasn't going to take the bait, Vala sighed and walked over to the rack of dumbbells. She had never lifted weights before, and, though she had seen others do so, she did not know the proper technique.
Selecting the two smallest ones, Vala sat down on a nearby exercise bench. She watched a Marine on the other side of the room who was doing what she assumed were arm curls. She tried to imitate his actions, but it felt strange. She then tried several different things, turning the dumbbells this way and that.
Almost against his will, Cam turned his gaze to Vala. He watched her struggle with the dumbbells for a minute or so. Figuring that she'd probably pull a muscle if he didn't do something, he let out a sigh, stopped the treadmill, and walked over.
"You're not doing it right," he told her.
Vala gestured at the Marine. "I tried to do it like he is, but it felt awkward."
"That's because you're not used to it." He took the dumbbell and placed her hand around it the correct way. "Okay, brace your elbow on your thigh. No, a little closer to your knee. That's it. Okay, now bring your forearm down until it almost rests on your leg, then curl it back up as far as you can go. Keep the dumbbell parallel to your body." He watched as Vala did as he'd told her. "That's right. Now, go back down, then up again."
"How many times?"
"Ten times for each arm, then repeat twice."
Vala did the ten reps on each arm, finding that, after the fourth or fifth time, it didn't feel so awkward. Once she was done with all the reps, she looked up at him.
"Thank you." Her gaze went over to the treadmills. "Are you finished running?"
"Actually, I'd planned on going another mile or so."
Vala got up. "I'll join you. Running is something I know how to do very well. I have had plenty of practice, even before I became a part of the Stargate Program."
"Yes, I bet you have. Running across the ground isn't the same as running on a treadmill, though."
"I am sure I could learn."
He looked at her clothing. "You're not really dressed for jogging. Those boots are too heavy."
"I have found it necessary to run in them more than once while on a mission."
Cam shrugged. "I can't argue with you there."
They went over to the treadmills, and Cam showed her how to operate the one next to his. He started her out at a slow speed so that she could get used to the feel of walking on something that was moving beneath her feet.
After making sure that she was going to be all right, Cam got back on his treadmill and resumed his jog. He occasionally glanced at Vala to see how she was doing. After just a couple of minutes, she increased her speed to a regular walking pace.
When two airmen came in, laughing about something, Cam's attention was drawn in that direction. He listened to the joke that the one man was telling the other. After the punch line had been delivered, he turned back around to Vala – and nearly stumbled. She had shed her BDU shirt, revealing what was most definitely not what he would have expected. Instead of a T-shirt, she was wearing a red tank top with a low-cut neckline that showed off quite a bit of cleavage. On top of that, several inches had been cut off the bottom, exposing Vala's flat, toned stomach.
The woman had definitely worn more revealing garments since he met her, but, for some reason, Cam couldn't drag his eyes away from her body. And when she turned up the speed even more and began a slow jog, the bouncing action immediately had his eyes going straight to her breasts.
Realizing that he was gawking at her, Cameron jerked his eyes away and stared fiercely at the wall. Dammit. What was wrong with him? Vala had been here for over a year, not counting the months she spent here before she was accidentally beamed to the Ori galaxy, and he'd never had the problem he was having now. Okay, so, yes, he had noticed before how attractive she was, but he was a guy, for Pete's sake. Of course he'd notice that. But this . . . this thing that was going on now was new – and he was not the least bit happy about it. He did not want to be attracted to Vala. He did not want to think the things that had been running through his mind ever since that kiss they shared. Vala was only interested in him because she couldn't have Daniel, and she was really only interested in getting one thing from him. Though Cam was far from being a prude, he had no desire to get involved with a woman who only wanted into his pants. He wanted more than that with a woman. Besides, she was most definitely not the kind of woman he went for. He preferred women like Amy.
Suddenly deciding that he'd had enough of jogging, he slowed the treadmill to his usual cool-down speed. In a hurry to get out of there, he shortened the duration of the cool-down walk by half. Telling Vala over his shoulder that he'd see her tomorrow, he grabbed his sweat towel and headed for the locker room.
Vala watched the man leave with a little smile on her face. She had noticed the way he was staring at her, and she was delighted. In spite of all his protests, Cameron was interested in her just like she was in him. Now that she knew that for certain, she was free to continue trying to seduce him. She did, however, realize that she needed to pull back a bit, at least for a while. Though the 'frontal assault' had worked for her many times in the past, it never worked on Daniel and probably wouldn't work on Cameron either. So, she needed to go back to being more subtle.
Leaving the gym, Vala went to her quarters, where she put some thought into what would be the best method for "getting her man." She soon realized, though, that any plan of seduction would have to factor in the reason why Cameron was rebuffing her advances. She knew, now, that it was not because he wasn't attracted to her, so there had to be another reason. Until she found out that reason, she might waste her time on using methods that wouldn't work.
So, how was she going to find out?
Deciding that subtly would have to wait for the seduction itself, Vala left her quarters, walked down the hall to Cam's, and knocked on the door.
