"I simply fail to see," Vala said, stopping when Cameron's hand flew up.

"Don't want to hear it," he snapped.

"But I," she tried again.

"No. Now be quiet."

Vala subsided with a pout. She crossed her arms and waited.

Cam turned his back to her, making sure to keep her in the corner of his eye. Damned if he was going to let her get them into more trouble. "Sam? Jackson? C'mon, guys, come in already!" He pleaded into the radio as if that would change their circumstances. He spun to face Vala again. "What were you thinking?"

"All I did was touch the ring," Vala protested. "How was I to know it was a...a...Port-key type of thing?"

"A what type of thing?" Cam asked, rubbing his forehead.

"A port-key! You know, as in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," Vala said proudly. "A darling young airman lent me-"

"Fine, fine, a port-key. But why did you have to touch it?" Cam asked.

"It looked nice," Vala said. "Why did you follow me?"

"I didn't follow you, I tried to keep you from disappearing. The SGC frowns on losing team members," Cam said.

"Well, thank you, then, darling," Vala said. "But now the SGC has lost two team members. What do you suggest we do?"

"What do I- so now you're going to listen to what I suggest?" Cam asked.

"Of course! You are the leader, after all," Vala smiled brightly at him. "Lead!"

Cam rubbed his forehead again and activated his radio. "This is Mitchell. Please, someone, come in. Please."

***

"I think we're lost."

"Well, gee, Vala, we're on a strange planet with no map. Whatever gave you that idea?" Cam asked.

"Well, those are good reasons," Vala said. "But mainly it was because we've passed that tree three times." She pointed. "See how it has the little..." She trailed off as he stopped walking.

"Look. I-" he sighed. "Fine. Do you have any ideas then?" he asked.

"I do, thank you for asking! It's getting dark now, see?" She waited for his acknowledgment, but none came. She shrugged. "Well, I think we should find shelter for the night. If we go back, ooh, maybe half a klick, there was this sweet little cottage. Looked empty, too. Should be a nice place to spend the evening."

As much as it pained him, it was a sound suggestion. "Lead." She beamed at him and he couldn't help smiling a little in return. They traveled back the way they had came and he was surprised to see it was, as she had thought, just under half a klick. They did a quick perimeter search, checked the house and surrounding buildings, but the place was empty.

After a brief skirmish with the lock, they entered the building and dropped their kits on the floor. Vala pulled out several candles and matches and quickly lit them, bathing the room in their glow.

Cam sniffed. "Are those scented?"

"I see no reason why they can't be functional and attractive," Vala said, starting to prowl.

Cam shook his head. "Just...leave everything where it is, all right?"

Vala turned her head and smirked at him over her shoulder. "Certainly, darling."

"This isn't bad," Cam said, starting to look around himself. It was solidly built, furnished, but apparently unused in a long while. It reminded him of the great room in General O'Neill's cabin.

"It's not," Vala agreed. "We're quite near where we landed, as well. Now we just need to wait."

"Until we can see again, yeah," Cam said, continuing his inspection of the cabin's contents.

"Or until Daniel comes to rescue us," Vala said. "No, wait, hear me out. He will come, you know he will. As much as he may think he'd like me gone sometimes, he doesn't really mean it. Here, we're safe and comfortable. Much less for him, and Sam, I suppose, to complain about when they track us down."

"We'll evaluate in the morning," he said.

"Of course," Vala said. "Well, we might as well get comfortable, then. Shall we?"

"Depends on your notion of comfortable," Cam said.

"You are a delight," Vala said dryly. "How about dinner?"

"Fine by me," Cam said, grabbing his bag. He pulled out his MRE bag. "I've got, uh, beef ravioli." He tore into it. "Oh, M&Ms, good." He noticed Vala's pile. "What the hell?"

Vala pulled out a Tupperware bowl and offered it to him. "Strawberry?"

"What are you doing? Where is your MRE?" Cam demanded.

"No, no, darling. I've had those before. That's not food." She paused. "Unless you have a brownie. Those are all right."

He fished around and held up a brownie. Vala grinned and reached for it, but he snatched it back. "Uh-uh. Share."

"Well, of course." She gestured. "Help yourself."

Cam tossed her the brownie, which she caught neatly, and peeked into the nearest container. "Oh, cool, Oreos."

***

"So there we are, in the cave, oh, thank you," Vala said, accepting the iced tea Cam passed her.

"Still naked?" Cam asked, sliding back down to the rug next to her.

"Of course! There was no time to grab clothing, let alone get dressed. We could hear the Great Horned Nestys coming closer and closer. I really thought that there would be no escaping! I considered offering Craddog as a trade for freedom, but," she stopped and frowned.

"What, he was that good?" Cam laughed. "Vala?"

"Did you hear that?" Vala asked quietly.

"No," Cam said, as he reached for his sidearm. He froze. "Yes." He flicked his head towards her and gestured to the other side of the room as he crept to the door. She grabbed her own sidearm and moved into the indicated position. He peered out the window into the darkness and saw a few people moving closer, dimly lit. "There's four, I think," he hissed. "Coming this way. Ready?"

"Ready," she said, her eyes on him.

Cam heard the thuds of footfalls right outside the door and tensed.

There was a knock on the door. "Hello? Mitchell?"

Cam sighed in relief and stood up. "Yeah, we're here." He pulled the door open, where Daniel, Sam and two men from SG-12 stood. "Good to see you, man."

"Daniel!" Vala exclaimed. "I knew you would find us. Didn't I tell you?" She punched Cam lightly on the shoulder.

Cam laughed, swiping at her hand. "Yeah, yeah, you said."

"Ha!" Vala bounced on the balls of her feet, beaming at Cam.

"Right," Daniel said, rubbing his forehead. "Okay, Vala, get your stuff together, your stuff only, please; we have to get back to SGC."

Vala saluted and began re-packing her things.

Cam followed Daniel outside. "We got here as fast as we could," Daniel said. "It took Sam awhile to figure out those rings."

"Ah, it was fine," Cam said, shrugging. "She had some good ideas. I'm glad she was here."

"Vala? That Vala?" Daniel asked, eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, our Vala. Hey, she's on the team for a reason, man," Cam said. "She's good."

"All right, then," Daniel said, slowly.

"Oh, hey, I was wondering," Cam said. "You ever going to take her out again, finish that date?"

"It was not a date," Daniel reminded him, pushing his glasses up. "We have no plans to ever do that again, that not-date. Why?"

"Oh, I don't know," Cam said. "We had a good time tonight. I just thought that if you wouldn't, I would ask her. Do you mind?"

Daniel's mouth dropped open. "Uh....no," he said. "No, I guess I don't."

Cam clapped him on the back. "Great, man. Thanks."

Whistling, he headed back to the cabin to help Vala pack. Daniel just stared after him, shaking his head. He had no idea what was going to happen next, but it was bound to be interesting.

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