You said "Talion" so I'm assuming you mean "Between the Lines" and not "Girls Night In". Oooh. This one should be interesting.
1. Vala was very happy to be woken up from her Teal'c vigil to be told they were having dinner off the base. She picked out a couple outfits from her quarters and hurried to the women's locker room to get Samantha's opinion on which should she wear for a group night out with the general.
Sam told her to go with the blue top and black jeans. "It's likely not going to be anything fancy. More along the lines of comfort food."
"Gotcha." Vala grinned and started to change.
"Um...Vala. Did Daniel talk to you at all about this dinner?"
"No." She looked up, puzzled. "Come to think of it, he wasn't talking much at all when they invited me."
"Ah." Samantha's face took on the same odd expression Daniel's had when Vala had seen the two men. "Well, it-it's not strange the general would come out here to check on Teal'c, but..." Her voice trailed off.
"But?" Vala prompted.
"He's going to want to know what really happened. Remember how we explained that Teal'c's actions might not be interpreted well in certain circles?"
"Right." Vala was puzzled. "But Jack O'Neill is your friend, right? You think he's going to be mad at Teal'c?"
"No. It's not that. It's...people may raise questions, and go after Jack for the answers. So, it's better if he doesn't know."
"So...you're counting on General O'Neill to stop additional questions from coming back on Teal'c, but you don't want him to know the answers himself?"
"Well, we're not...counting on him to do it. I mean, we know he will but..." Samantha began to look cross at Vala's questioning of it. "It's for his protection that he doesn't know. He won't have to lie for us. He'll be telling the truth as he knows it."
Vala shrugged on her top. "That sounds perfectly stupid to me."
"Vala..." Sam glared, and Vala could tell she was revving up for a lecture that would probably rival a Daniel rant, so she forestalled the maneuver by waving her hand.
"Fine, fine. I won't say anything. I am pretty versed in the art of deception you know."
Sam gave a faint smile and bit her lip. "I know. But so is General O'Neill."
Vala blinked, then followed her friend out to join the others. She hoped maybe Teal'c could explain what seemed to be another bizarre Tau'ri custom, then remembered her friend's current state, putting a damper on her interest in this dinner.
2. Vala sat enjoying her meal, and bits from Daniel or Sam's plates. She wished one of them had ordered something different so she could try a bit more variety. She listened to the conversation and could read the tell of a hidden warning in Jack O'Neill's words as much as from the others. He was hiding stuff from them as well. But Samantha and Daniel had insisted he would be on their side.
He certainly had made his loyalties quite clear when Daniel was in danger. She had heard him shouting at Woolsey from the next floor up. It made her feel a bit safer to know someone was protecting Daniel's interests. If she had had to break Daniel out to avoid killing him, she had considered including Jack O'Neill on the plan.
It was when he dismissed the Trust conspiracy theories she realized–Jack O'Neill's influence had taken a hit after his protection of Daniel. The people he dealt with in Washington didn't trust him as much now. She understood that concept all too well. He was protecting the team from this revelation of weakness–not as a macho power show like that idiotic senator last year, this was part of that same deluded idea of protection that SG-1 seemed to be trying to use against him. Not for the first time did Vala Mal Doran realize what a dysfunctional group she'd cast her lot with–it was one of the reasons she liked them so much.
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Date: 2007-11-04 11:51 pm (UTC)1. Vala was very happy to be woken up from her Teal'c vigil to be told they were having dinner off the base. She picked out a couple outfits from her quarters and hurried to the women's locker room to get Samantha's opinion on which should she wear for a group night out with the general.
Sam told her to go with the blue top and black jeans. "It's likely not going to be anything fancy. More along the lines of comfort food."
"Gotcha." Vala grinned and started to change.
"Um...Vala. Did Daniel talk to you at all about this dinner?"
"No." She looked up, puzzled. "Come to think of it, he wasn't talking much at all when they invited me."
"Ah." Samantha's face took on the same odd expression Daniel's had when Vala had seen the two men. "Well, it-it's not strange the general would come out here to check on Teal'c, but..." Her voice trailed off.
"But?" Vala prompted.
"He's going to want to know what really happened. Remember how we explained that Teal'c's actions might not be interpreted well in certain circles?"
"Right." Vala was puzzled. "But Jack O'Neill is your friend, right? You think he's going to be mad at Teal'c?"
"No. It's not that. It's...people may raise questions, and go after Jack for the answers. So, it's better if he doesn't know."
"So...you're counting on General O'Neill to stop additional questions from coming back on Teal'c, but you don't want him to know the answers himself?"
"Well, we're not...counting on him to do it. I mean, we know he will but..." Samantha began to look cross at Vala's questioning of it. "It's for his protection that he doesn't know. He won't have to lie for us. He'll be telling the truth as he knows it."
Vala shrugged on her top. "That sounds perfectly stupid to me."
"Vala..." Sam glared, and Vala could tell she was revving up for a lecture that would probably rival a Daniel rant, so she forestalled the maneuver by waving her hand.
"Fine, fine. I won't say anything. I am pretty versed in the art of deception you know."
Sam gave a faint smile and bit her lip. "I know. But so is General O'Neill."
Vala blinked, then followed her friend out to join the others. She hoped maybe Teal'c could explain what seemed to be another bizarre Tau'ri custom, then remembered her friend's current state, putting a damper on her interest in this dinner.
2. Vala sat enjoying her meal, and bits from Daniel or Sam's plates. She wished one of them had ordered something different so she could try a bit more variety. She listened to the conversation and could read the tell of a hidden warning in Jack O'Neill's words as much as from the others. He was hiding stuff from them as well. But Samantha and Daniel had insisted he would be on their side.
He certainly had made his loyalties quite clear when Daniel was in danger. She had heard him shouting at Woolsey from the next floor up. It made her feel a bit safer to know someone was protecting Daniel's interests. If she had had to break Daniel out to avoid killing him, she had considered including Jack O'Neill on the plan.
It was when he dismissed the Trust conspiracy theories she realized–Jack O'Neill's influence had taken a hit after his protection of Daniel. The people he dealt with in Washington didn't trust him as much now. She understood that concept all too well. He was protecting the team from this revelation of weakness–not as a macho power show like that idiotic senator last year, this was part of that same deluded idea of protection that SG-1 seemed to be trying to use against him. Not for the first time did Vala Mal Doran realize what a dysfunctional group she'd cast her lot with–it was one of the reasons she liked them so much.