CHAPTER 1

It had been several months since the last time he had heard her voice and yet every time he closed his eyes he could hear it clear as day. Vala had that way with people. From the first day that he had met her, strike that, from the moment that she kidnapped him and took him on a cross galaxy journey straight out of a science fiction novel, she had always been on his mind. Whether it had been annoyance or sympathy – no, it was annoyance, definitely annoyance. Vala was a hard person to forget. This is why he found the possibility that she did not survive the Al'Kesh explosion that destroyed the Ori Beachhead, almost impossible to comprehend. Despite Sam's suggestion that she somehow was pulled into the singularity and taken somewhere into the Ori home galaxy was something that he wanted to believe.

With a sigh, Daniel got up from his bed.

He hadn't been getting a lot of sleep lately and had just been ordered by both General Landry and Dr. Lam to get some or you would spend the next forty eight hours in the infirmary. Whether it was staying up all night studying the Book of Origin or dealing with the latest artifact brought in by another SG team, his time was becoming more and more precious and therefore, he often went without rest. After a while, it became noticeable to his teammates and pretty much everyone else around him resulting in him being ordered to do so. Something that right now was easier said that done. For the last few days it wasn't the job that was keeping him up at night, it was Vala. Or rather, dreams about Vala. For the last three days she had become the only thing that he could think about

He couldn't understand why all of a sudden he was thinking about her. A day didn't go by that he hadn't thought or hoped that she was alive and well but the moments would last for only a few minutes and he was able to go about his day. Now though, it was almost like an obsession. As if every moment of every second of his life at this point revolved around her, and she wasn't even there. He had blamed this on his lack of sleep and thought not to share it with Dr. Lam and the others. The last thing he needed right now was a session with Dr. Mackenzie. So for now he kept these thoughts to himself in the hopes that with some rest they would clear his head.

Exhausted he walked over to the nightstand and grabbed the Book of Origin. Walking back to his bed Daniel found himself overcome with pain. Images began rushing before his eyes, each one more unbelievable than the next. So caught up was he in what he was seeing he couldn't hear the sounds of someone pounding on his door, or calling out his name. When it had finally ended, he found himself lying on the floor, with Colonel Mitchell standing above him.

"Jackson, are you all right?"

Daniel felt extremely dizzy as he pulled himself up onto his knees and took a long look at Colonel Mitchell.

"She's alive," he said just before the darkness claimed him.