Archive of Our Own ^beta

~0i0~

After an hour of total quiet Vala suddenly popped up from her seat across the room from Daniel's desk. Spinning around towards him she stood and blurted out, "I don't want to be your friend anymore." Fighting to keep her voice even and not to add, I hate you, which of course she didn't, but really, she wanted to, Vala, one brow raised, arms crossed, perfected a perfectly normal glare.

Completely taken by surprise Daniel looked up with an expression of utter disbelief. "What!? Why?"

"Because, Daniel…" Vala paused, arms dropping to her side, head tilting down, and said very quietly, "I have serious feelings for you. This friendship is… it isn't working for me." Her eyes darted up to see his reaction.

His expression morphed into an open mouthed, wide eyed, appearance of sheer astonishment. Slowly he rose from his chair and approached her, his gaze locked on the top of her head which was still slanted down.

"Er…" he began, but apparently he couldn't get the words out.

Still looking at the floor Vala nodded in understanding and spoke, her voice coated with a slight rumble as if she were shaking. "Um hmm, exactly. We can still work together, if we have to, here, when we aren't on a mission and be teammates, of course, on missions. I'd rather not. I mean be here. I mean work here when we're not out there. By here I mean here. In your office. With you. I requested a permanent spot in Sam's lab since she's rarely there. It's approved. So… well…"

Gently, almost reverently, Daniel touched her cheek, slid his fingers under her chin and raised her face to his.

Vala nearly winced at his apparent delight of her abandoning this friendship. His smile was electric, eyes alive with something odd, like excitement, wonder, joy. Her heart was breaking with the sudden knowledge that he was overjoyed to be free of her. She fought the urge to jerk away and run. But, she had quit running.

"I…" Again he stumbled over his need to express himself.

"For goodness sakes, Daniel! You're a linguist, spit it out! I can take it!"

"I'm happy. I'm happy that you have serious feelings. For me. Only me, right?"

"I'm sorry. Could you repeat that?" She began to tremble ever so slightly and placed her hands on his chest to steady herself.

"All along I thought that you…"

"No. Daniel. Repeat. Means say again. The thing you said. Not the 'only me' part. Of course only you. And I'm offended you'd even…"

His mouth stopped her words with a soft, exploring kiss.

Not only was she still shaking, but now her knees seemed to have mysteriously left her body, otherwise she would have shoved him away! How dare he kiss her like… like… "Mmm," escaped her, half moan, half protest.

Obviously he didn't get the protest part, but her mind registered the not so hidden meaning in his kiss.

Daniel deepened the kiss, hands moving from her neck, down her back, one arm wrapping across her, the other inching its way tantalizingly down towards her six. Then when she thought the crazy archeologist was done… seeing as his mouth let go enough to draw a breath… he skewed his head the opposite direction and continued his assault on her willingly participating mouth.

Vaguely she registered that his hands had wandered up her sides just as his thumbs grazed her now aching breasts.

If she hadn't been so caught up in the war of kiss/hands vs. what the hell is happening, she might not have been so stunned when her back hit the wall and Daniel leaned into the cradle of her body.

The kiss ended as suddenly and unexpectedly as it had come in the first place. Stepping away from her Daniel shoved his hands in his pockets, telling her in a voice thick and deep with arousal, "Probably a good idea for you to work in Sam's lab."

Her kneeless legs failed to support her any longer, and Vala slithered down the wall to sit on the floor. She heard him chuckle. "Would you say," she said, her own voice still laden with left over lust, "That had I told you I no longer wanted to be your friend, let's say a year ago, that you would have gone crazy then? Because you are crazy now. Wonko!"

Daniel squatted in front of her, still grinning.

Her eyes intermittently darted from his smiling face to the way his pants hugged his crotch.

Taking her hands he stood pulling her up with him. "Come on, let's get out of here, go someplace we can talk."

"Talk!" She squeaked out. "You want to talk!? From that little 'Archeologist gone wild' scenario I would expect you wanted something to do with that mouth of yours other than talk! I'm so confused, Daniel. This is all so very disturbing. But not necessarily a bad disturbance. No. Not that. But maybe, that. You are happy that I ended our friendship. And glad to have me move my presence from yours by moving into Sam's lab to work. Right?"

"Yep. Less tempting." He kept walking, now holding her by one hand and tugging her along.

"And on top of all that, you all but had sex with me there in your office. Right?"

"Yep. Almost." He pulled her into the elevator and hit the button.

They were alone in the elevator but neither of them said a word. They didn't exchange a look. They stood close without touching other than holding hands.

The elevator didn't stop until it got to the checkout point. Letting go of each other's hand at the same time, Daniel and Vala exited side by side.

Each exchanged some pleasantries with the guards, signed out and took the other elevator up to the top. This time the elevator was crowded and Vala found herself with her backside smushed into Daniel's front side. Vala grinned finding that quite apparently her Daniel hadn't fully recovered from that delightfully wonko sexy ambush in his office.

When they reached his car they got in opposite sides, they both buckled their seat belts and then turned to look at each other. All done like some choreographed dance.

Daniel began to speak as fast as he could - in a manner that was meant to get all his words out before she could interrupt and before his intention to express himself got derailed by his own lack of social graces. "I'm not happy to end our friendship, which, by the way, is totally unnecessary. I'm happy that you have serious feelings for me, because I have serious feelings for you and I wasn't going to scare you off by... by... by mentioning that - because I thought you didn't have serious feelings for me. I want our friendship, I don't want to abandon that, I do want a relationship, with you, us together as a couple off work and as friends at work, I want you in my life, my bed, you are already every which way possible in my heart."

Smiling with lips locked together and eyes wide Vala said not a word but nodded now and then as if she understood this entire situation, which of course she wasn't quite sure she did, other than his serious feelings part. That, actually, she found hard to believe, but, that declaration of his serious feelings made her ecstatic.

After a long moment as Vala remained quiet, Daniel started the car and drove. Silence reigned until he pulled into the parking garage at his apartment. Turning the car off he sat, lips pursed and hands holding tight to the steering wheel. Finally he cleared his throat. "Vala? Did I misunderstand your feelings for me?"

"Heavens no! Well... I don't think so but who knows what's going on inside that handsome head of yours."

He shifted around to face her. "Then what's wrong?"

Removing her seatbelt, Vala exited the vehicle, then leaned down to see him sitting there looking so adorably confused. "Why do we have to be only friends at work? Then at the rare times we do not have to be at work we can be in the relationship, romantically. Why is that?" She stood straight not waiting on his answer.

Undoing his seatbelt Daniel got out and eyed her over the top of the car. He rolled his eyes, rocking his head back and forth. "It's complicated." He said. "Come on, let's go inside."

"No."

"Huh?"

"No. Not going inside yet. I would be much too distracted as I am sure you would start up again with the kissing." Walking around the car Vala came to stand in front of Daniel. "We need to settle this right now so I can totally enjoy what's about to transpire, which I have waited way too long for and it's certainly about time."

"Okay." He buried his hands in his pockets to keep from touching her.

Vala let her gaze move slowly from his lovely eyes down to his toes and up again. "As I understand it," she began, hooking her arm through one of his and moving towards the entrance, "we abandon ships. One friend one and then one serious feeling one, depending on where we are. Then," she continued towards Daniel's apartment, towing him along. "the friendship one gets abandoned, and back to the previously abandoned ship 'serious feelings'. Since we're doing all this abandon ships why not abandon the Good Ship Sucker too?"

"Lollipop." He said using his free hand to unlock his door.

"Oh. Right. I love that movie." She released her hold on him and followed him into the apartment. "But, we must..."

"Enough!"

With no other forewarning she found herself in his arms, bent back and being kissed quite thoroughly. When his hot mouth moved to her neck Vala began to moan out, "No, no, no."

""Wha...?" Finding it difficult to articulate basic words Daniel drew a ragged breath and tried to focus on her face.

"Darling, if you want this..." She flicked her gaze down his body and back up, "... and you obviously do, then you will have to agree to my terms."

"Okay." He snatched her up against him and breathed into her ear. "I agree. I agree to everything."

"But... but... but... oh my god, mmm, ah... wait, can't think.. your hands are... I mean you don't know the terms."

"Sure I do." Walking her towards his bedroom he spoke between kisses and nibbles. "Your terms will most likely get us fired. But who cares?"

The back of her knees hit the edge of his bed and she tumbled back laughing with delight.

Daniel took hold of the edge of her tee shirt and pulled it over her head. He wasn't the least bit surprised to see that she wore a lacy, sexy, bra underneath.

Leaning on her elbows and boot heels tucked into the bed rail she watched as Daniel pulled his shirt off, then placing a hand on each side of her he leaned in and kissed her, his hands running up her rib cage to encase each breast.

Vala sighed. "I'm like pudding in your hands."

"Putty." He corrected, nipping at her neck.

"Hmmm?"

"Nothing. Vala?"

"Yes, darling?"

"Take your boots off."

"Why"

"So I can take your pants off of you."

They were intermittently kissing as they spoke.

"Ahhh, lovely idea, Daniel." Vala didn't move, just sat dreamy eyed and smiling wantonly at him.

Daniel reached down and unlaced one of her boots and then the other.

"I don't know why the Air Force can't have the side zippy kind like in the fashion stores." Her voice was soft and barely above a whisper.

His eyes lifted to hers and found her eyes closed. Grinning, he pulled one of her boots off and tossed it over his shoulder and the the other soon followed.

When he looked up at her, her eyes were wide open and she was grinning.

"I suggest, darling, that you stop right there and remove your boots as not to prolong the culmination of seeding this ship."

Suddenly he stood straight up. "Damn! Birth control!"

"Oh, posh! Silly. I'm on that already, and we are bombarded with every test known to mankind and some other species. Daniel, my love, get on with it!"

"Right!" He removed his boots, stripped off her pants, then his, and as she scooted back on the bed he crawled after her kissing his way down her belly. "There will be no abandoning...I'm going down with this ship.

~END~