Authors Note: Well here it is Chapter two is finally complete so please read, enjoy and review … let me know what you think. The next chapter should be posted shortly.

Chapter Two

Mitchell sighed loudly for possibly the thousandth time since they'd been taken as hostages and told to await Vala's over due payment. He continued to pace, as he had done for the past hour, around the perimeter of the dark and dingy cell. It wasn't a particularly large room but then what had he expected…. The only light came from a barred window high above their heads on the wall opposite the door, and that was now fading fast with the falling of dusk. At least, so far, they had been provided with adequate water and what he supposed passed as food on this planet.

"Mitchell, you should save your energy." Sam mumbled from her seat on a hard, uneven wooden pallet that had been pushed up against one of the walls along one side of the room. Her short blond hair was full of dust and grim from the journey.

He glanced up at her and met her eyes with a frustrated glare, he chose however not to respond verbally to her comment and instead turned back to focus on his pacing. This was probably the third or maybe fourth time she had stated something similar, and he had no desire to keep the conversation going round in circles.

The hours that had passed since they had been led here seemed to have taken along time to pass by putting him on edge. Finally giving up on pacing he practically through himself down on to the hard pallet next to Sam.

"This is driving me mad!" He growled tossing his head back in annoyance only narrowly missing a collision with the stone wall. "I just prefer to be the one doing the rescuing."

"You're not the only one." She agreed, shifting slightly on the pallet to face him. "We'll be out of here soon."

"You think?"

"You don't?" Sam countered, her eyebrows rising in surprise. "Daniel hasn't given up on me once!"

Cam nodded and he sighed once again. "I think we stand a chance." He turned to look at her a slight grin appearing at the corners of his lips. "As long as they haven't killed each other on their way here!"

Vala's shoulders slumped forward with exhaustion as she tried to control her rapid breathing. Daniel had killed the last of them and she could clearly hear his breathing it was just as laboured as hers. The adrenaline which had kept them both going through out the gun battle had begun to dissipate leaving them mentally and physically shattered.

Reaching into one of her pockets in her vest she pulled out a new clip and released the used clip from her hand gun, watching it for a moment with unfocused eyes as it collided with the dry ground by her feet disturbing the dust around them.

Something made her look up.

The fallen man that had landed nearest to her had moved. He was sitting up and facing her. His weapon ready and his cold, piercing eyes trained on her.

Her weapon not fully loaded and Daniel with his back to her, Vala knew that there was no time to react. Time appeared to slow right down. She could see what was going to happen but there was no way that she could move quickly enough to stop it.

She braced herself, attempting to turn away to reduce damage to her head and chest.

But she wasn't quick enough.

The force of the blast through her off her feet.

Surprisingly the pain wasn't instant, the shock of being hit clouding her mind, pushing everything else out for a few moments that seemed to last forever. Then the pain arrived kicking and screaming its way into her head, shooting up from her stomach and filling the rest of her body. She was vaguely aware of hitting the ground and instinctively she fell still, movement only increased the pain, pulling at the charred skin, tearing it open.

Daniel turned as the sound of the blast registered in his ears. He watched in horror from just a few feet away as Vala stumbled, then fell backwards, smoke from the energy weapon rising slowly from the bloody mess where her green jacket covered stomach should have been. Turning quickly he fired 6 shots into the already dieing man and couldn't stop himself from screaming out in anger as he did so. Watching in satisfaction as the man gasped then slumped to the floor.

Once he was sure the assailant would never awaken he ran the short distance and through himself down at Vala's side, placing his weapon down and reached for her wound. The smell of burnt flesh made him gag several times, it took a few moments to regain his composure before turning back to face her.

"Vala!"

She could do little more than gasp out at the pain. Vala's vision blurred and she barely even registered that he was there until he started to pull away the burnt material in order to inspect the severity of her injury. She clenched her teeth in an attempt not to scream out and Daniel, as gently as he could, examined her stomach.

"Vala!"

He was calling her name. She opened her eyes, that she hadn't realised she had closed and tried to focus on his panicked blue ones.

"Vala, I need you to calm down!"

Calm down!

She was in agony and he wanted her to calm down! Her vision began to darken though she wasn't sure if that was due to the approaching nightfall or her injuries.

"Vala!" His voice continued to nag at her.

"Vala you need to calm your breathing or you are going to hyperventilate!"

She attempted to reduce her rapid breathing and she finally managed to force herself to focus on his voice.

"Good, that's it." He encouraged, running a hand up and down one of her arms, offering comfort. "Vala we're sitting here in the open, we need to get to the cover of the trees." His voice sounded strained. "I'…I'm going to have to move you."

Vala nodded her understanding his anxieties and braced herself for the expected pain that would come with movement.

"Ok."

Daniel leant forwards and carefully edged he moved one of his arms under her thighs and the other beneath her back. He leaned down and brushed his lips across her

forehead in a silent apology, before quickly pulling her close to his chest.

The sudden movement made her scream out in distress, causing him to unconsciously pull her closer to him. Noting her reaction Daniel forced himself to loosen his hold on her, stretching out his arms in an attempt to lessen her pain.

For a moment she could see through the pain, she was aware that she was secure in Daniels arms and that she was moving, but seconds later her senses blurred, pain overwhelming her, taking over completely.

Daniel moved as quickly as he could, stumbling on weary legs and the tired muscles in his arms straining under her weight. He glanced up and attempted to judge the distance in the dimming light, between them and the tree line where their attackers had hidden. It was the only cover close by and would have to do for now.

He dragged his feet across the dusty ground, his mind focused on reaching his goal. Getting Vala to a safe and sheltered area so he could attempt, with his limited medical skills, to examine the extent of her injury was at the forefront of his mind.

Almost there he looked down to check on her and he watched as well as felt her go limp in his arms.

"Vala!" He growled. Reaching the relative safety of the trees he placed her down carefully on a patch of leaves, she groaned as he set her down but didn't open her eyes. "Vala stay with me!"

Making sure her breathing and heart rate were steady he reached across and un-zipped her protective vest. The blast had caught her just below the vest, a few inches higher and she would have been protected from the worst of it. He pulled the vest apart and began, quickly, unbuttoning her shirt, using his pocket knife to cut away at the burnt material stuck to her wound. "Vala, why is it whenever I take off your clothes you're always unconscious." He mumbled, rolling up the black vest top she wore underneath, moving it up to the top of her midriff exposing all of her lower abdomen and the bloody mess left by the blast.

He needed the med kit…. It was in Vala's backpack that he had forgotten to take off her back before he had laid her down. Cursing loudly he reached across and grasped the shoulder furthest from him, "I'm sorry Vala." He carefully removed each of her arms from the straps then as gently as he could he moved her into a sitting position while using his free hand to push the pack out from underneath her. Slowly placing her back down Daniel reached for the pack, opening it and rooting around frantically before his fingers located the med kit. He took it out and placed it by his knees along with her canteen of water.

Turning the cap of the canteen he use one hand to cautiously pour small amounts of water over her stomach, cleaning away some of the dried blood, which was difficult to see in the failing light, and adding moisture to the burnt flesh. With the other hand he gently pulled at the skin, trying to assess how deep it had gone. He winced in sympathy as his touch cracked the dry skin leaving behind trails of fresh blood.

Placing the bottle back down Daniel reached out and opened the kit and pulled out a small tube of cooling gel which he twisted the cap open with his teeth, carefully squeezing a small amount on to the fingers of his free hand.

Leaning over her once again, he examined the wound gently, accessing the rate of blood flow before carefully smoothing the gel over the area, starting around the edges before covering the whole of her stomach.

It was almost completely dark by the time he had finished dressing the wound and the temperature was beginning to drop. He lifted his free arm to his mouth and pulled back the sleeve with his teeth revealing is watch … just over three hours before the Odyssey would be in communication range … they could do nothing but wait.

Vala groaned, feeling uncomfortable, like she had slept whilst lying in an odd position causing her legs to go numb. She slowly opened her eyes, it was dark, so dark that she couldn't see anything. There was a chill in the area that hadn't been there before. She attempted to sit up but an arm held tight across her chest, just beneath her breasts, refused to allow her to move.

"Vala, don't move," Daniels voice close to her ear sounded strained and uncertain. She relaxed back into her previous position, this time noticing that she lay against Daniel's warm body. "I've given you a powerful pain killer but I wasn't sure how effective it would be." His voice was laced with concern. "You need to stay still or you will start bleeding again!"

"Wh…what ha…happened?" She stuttered as she shivered due to the cold. The contrast between the heat from his body and the air around her was extreme and she tried to push herself deeper into his arms.

"Vala you were shot." He felt her close the small gap between them and tightened his grip round in response. Daniel then reached out with one hand and tugged his jacket, which he had removed earlier and placed over her, more securely over the top of her trembling body.

"I..I don't remember."

"You don't need to remember now." He shush'd her. "I explain it all to you later, when we get back." His fingers found her arm underneath the jacket and ran them along her un-injured side in a soothing manor, trying to keep her as calm as possible. Daniel gently rubbed the side of his face against her hair, the occasional silky strand catching on his cheek, on almost two days worth of hair growth.

"Daniel, what about Sam and Mitchell?" Vala spoke barely above a whisper, knowing what his answer would be and knowing what she would say in response, and Daniel new it too.

He didn't respond, he just held her tight, his breath warming her left ear sending a tingling sensation down through her neck.

"Daniel!" This time her voice rose, demanding an answer.

"I don't know Vala!"

"Well leave me and go and get them!" Her voice was strained, sleepy but with no less conviction than she intended to portray. The thought of being left alone in the dark, injured, in an unknown place and in the cold was a terrifying prospect but this time she refused to be the cause of another's suffering.

"I'm not leaving you." In her heart she knew that would be his answer however it wasn't the right one.

"Daniel you must!"

"No!" His tonne firm trying to state clearly that there was no room for further discussion on the subject. "They have been in far worse situations than this and are quite capable of looking after themselves you however are not!"

"Daniel…."

"End of discussion Vala!" He all but growled in her ear. "You should rest."

"Daniel I'm not exactly going anywhere!" She tilted her head slightly but couldn't quite make out his features in the dark. "I can rest here whilst you go and find the others and bring them back to me."

"Vala we are NOT talking about this anymore!" She felt him tense up in frustration. "Now how are you feeling?" He attempted to change the course of the conversation.

"I feel angry with you!"

She felt as well as heard him sigh heavily, her head rising and falling with his movements as it lay against his shoulder.

He tried again. "Are you in any pain?"

"Yes, … emotional pain because you are refusing to help rescue our friends!" His responses were beginning to make her blood boil, he could go and be back again in probably little more that an hour. Not that she wanted him to run off into a fire fight without any sort of support but he would have the element of surprise… "Oww!" She gasped out in pain, her increasing agitation caused her to tense which produced a shocking pain to shoot up through her stomach and across her chest.

"Vala?"

She drew in a slow calming breath before releasing it, attempting to relax her muscles. "I'm fine." The pain began to fade as she let her body go lax against his. "Just a sudden pain, it's gone now."

"Sure?" He didn't sound convinced by her words.

"Yes, now as I was saying, Sam and Mitchell…"

"And what about you Vala?" He wanted to shake her, hard, until she understood what he was trying to get across.

"I already told.." He'd reached up and pushed his hand against her moving lips, stilling them and demanding silence.

"Listen to me?" When he felt her nod he relaxed his hand but did not remove it completely. "I watched you fall to the ground after that blast hit you in the stomach and I have spent every moment since then cleaning you up, trying to keep you warm and panicking that you weren't going to wake up. Now there is no way after all that effort that I am just going to get up a leave you to look after yourself when I am almost completely certain that both Sam and Mitchell are fine!" He pulled his hand away entirely, pulling it back to rest against the top of her arm. "Ok?"

Vala glared out at the darkness in front of her. "Fine."

"Good."

She could almost hear the triumphant smirk in his voice, and oh how she wanted to wipe it off his face.

"You're a bastard you know that." Vala huffed, but attempted once again to carefully shift into the warmth of his body without setting of another wave of pain.

"I have been told that on occasion." He laughed, leaning over and placing a chaste kiss against her temple.

"How long until we can contact with the Odyssey?"

She felt him shift and one of the arms around her moved so he could push the light on the side of his watch. She silently groaned at loosing the warmth that his arm had provided and she shivered again. The small greenish glow lit up the side of Vala's face forcing her to close her eyes for the few short seconds it stayed on before the darkness returned.

"Just under two hours."

"Right, so we have two hours to waste." She turned her head so the side of her face rested across the top of his chest. "Daniel what are we going to talk about?"

"What would you like to talk about?"

Vala lifted her chin slightly until her lips gently brushed across the exposed skin of his neck. "I did suggest earlier that we had something to discuss."

She could have sworn that she felt Daniel squirm beneath her but she was reassured that he didn't move away. "Vala I don't think now is the best time…"

"Now is the perfect time cause neither of us has the chance to run away."

TBC... Shortly

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