Title: Things Can Only Get Better
Info: Vala on change, matriarchal societies, and pancake breakfasts. A series of vignettes.
Pairing: Daniel/Vala, quite obviously, with appearances by nearly everyone else.
Rating: 13+
Spoilers: Anything, up to the end of Season 10.
Disclaimer: They aren't mine, I don't get any money from this, etc.

A/N: Written for the Daniel/Vala ficathon over on LJ. Divinejoker wanted to see Sam/Vala friendship, post-Unending, and banter and didn't want song!fic, Daniel!whump, or pointless fluff.
scratches head Okay then, best two out of three?

Finally: A big thank you to LuxuriaOceanus, beta-reader, LJ-fiancee, and speed reader extraordinaire.

one. strange how some things change

'We are merely the sum of our experiences.'

She isn't quite sure where's she's heard it before or why it stuck in her mind, but there it is. It's probably from some obscure piece of literature that Daniel read, she thinks ruefully. It would be a good theory if it were actually true but it isn't in her case and she's glad.

She would've been a poster child for the concept (Teal'c explained the saying once, during a sparring session) if not for these silly people with their noble causes and ridiculously optimistic attitudes about practically everything. Something about them made her want to change, had dared her to in fact. She could blame Daniel but it wasn't just him, it was everybody on this backwater little planet (she calls it that affectionately now because it's starting to feel a lot like home). Vala's a part of something that she really and truly believes is good and while the feeling is a little foreign at times, she likes it.

The way she sees Daniel has changed too. Somewhere along the way their sniping at each other turned into some strangely messed up form of affection that reminds her of little boys who used to pull her hair when she was young. Whatever it is, it's forged with blood, fire, and tears and it redefines the way she thinks about the word friendship. It makes her evaluate and come to the conclusion that she honestly had no clue before. It's not just that she'd die for him, she thinks she could live for him too.

It's not surprising that everything changes, that's a constant she depends on, the never-ending way that nothing's ever the same twice. What was unexpected is the way is he has changed. She's made permanent ties and she knows from experience that it would actually hurt to cut them. It's not any one thing that makes 'home' wherever this odd new family of hers is, but a collection of things.

one-b. but change can be a good thing.

She takes a break to file her nails and touch up her hair during a lull on one of those rare, quiet missions they're always daydreaming about.

Daniel throws a strange look at her, obviously puzzled. "Do you have to do that right now?"

He really is curious, and Vala takes that as her cue to give a particularly silly explanation of why 'one should always look their best, just in case,' as if it's the simplest thing in the world and he should already know.

"And besides, what if we save the galaxy today? We have to look good for the pictures."

He drops his chin to his chest and smiles fondly at her, the kind of smile she only sees rarely on him: eyes soft, a bit amused, no shadows on his face, just happy. She really loves that particular smile.

"You do know it's highly unlikely anybody outside of the stargate program will ever see pictures or even know who we are?"

"Of course I do. Which means we'll have to look at the pictures for a while, all the more reason to look nice."

They bicker over it for a few minutes until he gives up and concedes that it could make a bizarre sort of sense, though he's confused about how she got him to promise to bring a comb along in his pack next time.

"Alright, break time's over," he decides, looking over the notes he was working on.

"What break time? We hadn't even gotten to strip poker." He had to know that was coming sooner or later. He keeps working and Vala sits down next to him a minute later. He smiles and hands her one of the pages he'd been working on.

"Double-check this and make sure I didn't miss anything? I think you know this dialect better."

Vala works quietly and fast, which was a pleasant surprise that he's again grateful for. A few minutes later he hears her pen jerk to a sudden stop and carefully avoids looking up when he feels a set of confused grey eyes watching him. He doesn't acknowledge her staring and she goes back to the last sentence, muttering the words under her breath slowly, then again. He peeks up just long enough to notice her wearing the puzzled expression he mentally admits is sort of cute.

"Daniel?"

"Yes?" He thinks she can see through his attempts at looking busy so he meets her gaze.

"I don't think I'm reading this last one correctly."

"Let me take a look."

Vala hands the sheet over reluctantly and lets him read it, then give it back to her, looking completely unfazed.

"You did fine, it looks right to me."

"Oh. Well then.."

She looks well and truly surprised and Daniel mentally congratulates himself for having been the one to flabbergast her for once, even if her shock doesn't last long. Vala scribbles something else at the bottom and passes it back. There's a line at the bottom of the page, his words written in her flowing handwriting and a short reply that makes him smile is written after them:

Go out for dinner with me when we get back?

Yes! :)

Change really isn't such a bad thing.

two. funny how some things stay the same.

It doesn't mean they've stopped arguing. She really doesn't think they could, but honestly they're both okay with that. Most times, it keeps things interesting.

two-b. seriously, it's not that different.

He sounds irritated at best when her constant tapping on the floor finally drives him to distraction. He turns away from the wall he's been glaring at for the past twenty minutes and glares at her instead.

"What on earth are you doing?"

She thinks about how she's kind of pissed (another earth term she likes) at him too and replies sounding equally annoyed.

"None of your business darling, just trying to distract myself from an otherwise unbearable situation."

"Well if you hadn't nearly shattered their sacred monument.." He's just not letting that go today, it was an accident.

"I'm not the one who just had to come study the tomb-writings and I couldn't possibly have known that they worship a rock!"

"You could've thought about the fact that their culture might be different than ours..." again with the cultural differences speech. 'Oy.' At the moment her inner voice sounds an awful lot like Jack O'Neill, and she's sure Daniel would just love knowing that.

She stops suddenly when she realizes what he just said, a hint of a smile starting when normally she'd be trying to look like she wasn't paying a bit of attention to his rant. He said 'our culture' so naturally that she almost forgot Earth hasn't always been her home.

He stops talking and stares when a wide grin creases her face, and somehow manages to make his verdict sound both incredulous and amused.

"You're crazy!"

She remembers their first meeting back on the Prometheus fondly. It was a shame she'd had to beat him up.

"Why thank you Daniel, I believe you've mentioned it before."

"I didn't mean that as a compliment, Vala."

"I know." She smirks, that particular memory will never get old. Especially what prompted his calling her a fruitcake in the first place.

If anything he's more puzzled and goes back to 'his' corner of their small jail cell, muttering all the way. It's quite likely that he'll be producing a deck of cards for them to play with soon anyways. She waits a few seconds longer and can't help the mischief in her voice when she turns to him.

"Their sacred rock did look a lot like a giraffe."

He snorts, shaking his head and chuckling.

"Yeah Vala, it kinda did."

At least they're talking again.

three. there are some things money just can't buy.

Ever since they realized they worked well together, she and Sam have had an understanding that since they are the only two women on the team and neither have enough female friends, every other Friday is automatically reserved for girls night in or out. It doesn't really matter what they do and sometimes it's not food, shopping, and the latest chick flick. Occasionally it's recuperating in the infirmary with Carolyn and sharing the latest gossip over smuggled ice cream, or commiserating over the latest idiotic thing the guys did as they paint their toenails.

It's not that they've always been friends; when Sam first got back from Area 51 to find Daniel unwillingly attached to a woman he swore was nuts, it would be an understatement to say they hadn't clicked. Sometime later when Sam realized that Vala legitimately wanted to stay and wasn't just toying with Daniel, they did. Probably over some sort of crisis- because there really didn't seem to be anything else lately- but they had and that was that.

Sometimes there are the things that defy explanation: being infinitely more amusing than most, they require photographic documentation. That planet with the matriarchal society, for one. They'd gotten a lot accomplished during a four day mission with the guys waiting on them hand and foot, who knew Teal'c could give pedicures? By the third time the guards dragged Daniel and Cameron back for wandering off, they decided they really liked the Corverians.

The whole thing had been well documented with polaroids and a camera Sam had rigged with the help of the local governess, much to their teammates' chagrin.

They came through the Stargate laughing, and a few seconds later the guys came through carrying the packs and equipment. Gaining new allies and a power source was just a bonus, they were going to have blackmail material for months.

three-b. for everything else, there's Daniel's MasterCard.

Classic cut little black dress: 97

Victoria's Secret (he'll just have to wonder what she bought for a while): 52

Strappy high heel sandals: 34

The look on his face when Vala stepped out of her quarters to join him for dinner: priceless.

four. simply put: she loves him.

It would've been easy to say it last night, in the heat of the moment. But then he might've wondered if she meant it and that's unacceptable after how far they've come. What she does know is that right now it feels absolutely right and she can't quite understand why it hadn't happened before.

He's still asleep and she's warm and comfortable lying in his arms and thinking about how they got here. Not surprisingly, they'd argued last night, about them and everything else that's been simmering under the surface practically since they met. There was something raw about this fight that had scared her with its intensity, they'd come close to breaking each other and this new thing they'd been building together. The argument ended as quickly as it started when they came to the near simultaneous realization that they were playing for keeps.

After that there were only whispered apologies against skin and a tenderness that amazed her.

She feels Daniel's breathing change and guesses he's awake, shifting so she can see his face properly. He's watching her quietly, still half asleep and making no move to do anything but sit here and hold her for a while.

Vala leans up for a quick kiss and smiles as she greets him. "Good morning."

"Morning." Daniel tugs her a little closer and she willingly complies, slipping her leg between his and laying against his chest. He stills and it takes her a minute to realize she's been tracing the words she hasn't said yet on his skin.

She opens her mouth to correct that and instead "When's breakfast?" pops out. Vala pokes him in the ribs when he starts laughing.

"Ouch! Be nice Vala, I'm tired."

"I thought I was very nice to you last night." They just let that thought hang for a moment, both caught up in pleasant memories of the night before. Reluctantly she drags herself back to the present and moves so she can look him in the eye, suddenly more serious than the moment before, which he notices.

"Daniel? You need to know that I love you." It feels good to say it out loud, she decides, especially when he grins and says, "Me too" before he kisses her again.

(She thinks the pancake breakfast can wait until later.)